129: AC Magnetic Fields: What They Tell Me From The Start

Before anything else, magnetic fields may have already decided what’s possible. In this episode, Keith Cutter—Independent EMF Consultant and host of The EMF Remedy Podcast—shares the first thing he checks in every home assessment: magnetic fields.

You’ll learn what magnetic fields are, where they come from, why some can’t be fixed, and what their patterns reveal about deeper system problems. Keith walks through the difference between environmental and in-home sources, discusses real-world implications, and explains how a productive mindset and smart avoidance strategies can guide you toward meaningful exposure reduction.

Whether you’re evaluating your own home or working as a consultant, this episode lays the foundation for understanding how AC magnetic fields make a home viable—or not, depending on the needs of the client.

Chapters

• 0:00 Magnetic Fields Define Habitability
• 11:06 Introduction to the EMF Remedy Podcast
• 23:28 How Magnetic Fields Form in Homes
• 35:58 Objectionable Current Flow Issues

Transcript

Keith Cutter: 2:29

they decide what's inhabitable or how hard it will be to make it so. When I assess a home, magnetic fields are often the very first thing I investigate, and for good reason. Unlike other types of electromagnetic exposures, environmental magnetic fields from utility infrastructure are typically impossible to fix yes, impossible. Local magnetic fields that vary from room to room, however, they tell a different story. Elevated levels indoors are often correctable, but they usually point to a deeper issue current flowing where it shouldn't. In either case, the presence, intensity and location of elevated magnetic fields quietly define what is possible or the magnitude of intervention required to make the home viable according to the client's needs Coming up. Hi, this is Keith Cutter with EMF Remedycom, host of the EMF Remedy podcast, your trusted guide for surviving the electroplague. This is where we talk about how to survive and thrive in an increasingly corrupt electromagnetic environment.

Keith Cutter: 4:17

We focus on two powerful tools developing a productive mindset and practicing strategic avoidance. Together, these can dramatically reshape your exposure landscape and help you reclaim your health and your home. It has been 127 episodes since I addressed the topic of AC magnetic fields. Isn't that something? It is amazing to me how many facets of practicing strategic avoidance there are.

Keith Cutter: 5:00

When I first started the podcast, I thought I might get, oh you know, 20 or 30 episodes in, and then would I run out of things to talk about, would I have to begin repeating topics, and I'll say this has not been the case. It's really been a blessing, I'll tell you, though, to be forced in my writing, in my preparation for the podcast and my other activities, to really crystallize my thinking, to explain, to challenge myself, to explain things in a clear and compelling manner. So, 127 episodes later, we're going to look at and, by the way, that was um how important do I think magnetic fields are. It was my first episode after my introduction to the podcast. So after episode one, episode two was on magnetic fields.

Keith Cutter: 6:02

That's the kind of importance that I attach to these, so today I'm going to walk you through exactly how I think about magnetic fields during a home assessment what they are, where they come from, both inside and outside the home, why I'm concerned about them, what cancellation is how, how it works, why it matters and what their patterns reveal about deeper wiring or system issues, what it takes to fix them, when that's possible and what practical steps can and can't be taken to reduce exposure. Can and can't be taken to reduce exposure. This is the same foundation I teach to my EMF consultant students and use with clients in the field as well.

Keith Cutter: 7:02

Understanding. It clearly reshapes how you approach every home environment, from what's possible to where the real limits are. So let's start from the beginning. Most homes today are powered by electricity. I know there are others. I've lived in them. I've lived off-grid for 10 years. I've lived off-grid for 10 years and I've lived in a house on the grid with the power turned off because it had the very problems that we're going to be talking about with variable intensity, magnetic fields throughout the home and because it was a rental, I couldn't fix it.

Keith Cutter: 7:50

Anyway, getting ahead of myself, most homes today are powered by electricity. That electricity comes in from the utility lines outside and enters the house through the main electric panel. I always abbreviate that the MEP. From there it's distributed through wires that run through the ceiling, the walls, the floors, kind of like blood vessels for power, if you will. This is what makes it possible to turn on a light, use a refrigerator or run your washing machine that runs on electricity.

Keith Cutter: 8:37

Any appliance that's the term of art needs a way for that electricity to come in power the appliance and then return back out. That's how electrical current flows. It goes out from the panel on one wire called the hot or the ungrounded conductor Most people are okay with calling it the hot and returns on another wire called the neutral or the grounded conductor. Neutral suffices for most discussions. That round trip out and back is key, and here's where magnetic fields come in. Whenever electric current flows, that is to say when electricity is actually moving through a wire while powering an appliance I'm going to say that again, that is when electricity is actually moving through a wire while powering an appliance it creates a magnetic field around that wire and usually at the appliance as well. The more current that flows, the stronger the magnetic field. Current that flows, the stronger the magnetic field. If you could see it and I'm talking about along the wire it would look like invisible loops or rings surrounding the wire. But and this is a big but if the current goes out on one wire and returns on a second wire that's routed right alongside it, the magnetic fields from the two conductors mostly cancel each other out. That's a very good thing. This cancellation effect helps keep indoor magnetic field levels as low as those in the surrounding environment.

Keith Cutter: 10:41

Keith, you didn't say zero, nope, as low as those in the surrounding environment, and that's key. Highly localized magnetic fields are expected around certain appliances, low voltage transformers and the main electric panel. For example, a toaster would be another one, an induction stove. These are usually not a cause for concern, although I would say I tell my clients you don't want to read a book there. You know what I mean. Like you're not going to lean against your main electric panel and read a book. Hopefully not. You're not going to do that on the stove you know, hanging out near an electric range Not a good idea.

Keith Cutter: 11:38

The solution for these is simple you increase distance and avoid spending extended time close to these sources. Don't, for example, sleep on the other side of the wall that houses the main electric panel. Move the bed if you need to and don't place baby's bassinet beneath it. And yes, I've had a client that did that. And when they learned and the infant was not thriving, and they learned about this, they moved the infant's bassinet five feet from the main electric panel and the infant began to thrive. So the trouble starts when that out and back balance is broken, that cancellation effect when current on the hot conductor doesn't return fully on a nearby neutral. This results in net current, a condition sometimes described in the field as an unbalanced circuit. So what can go wrong? Well, sometimes wires aren't routed correctly. Other times current finds its way onto plumbing, gas lines, coaxial cables or even unrelated circuits. This can result from improper wiring, shared neutrals or grounding and bonding issues that violate what I believe to be the intent of the National Electric Code to prevent objectionable current flow, the NEC 250.6a, which prohibits wiring methods that result in unintended current on grounding paths and allows for corrective actions. If you want to read a lot more about this topic, and especially what I just mentioned. I can't recommend anybody more highly than Andrew McAfee. He's written several books. He calls his Killing Current series and you can read much, much more about this.

Keith Cutter: 14:11

When I started, all I had was Carl Reilly's book and I was grateful for that. But I feel like Andrew has gone into much more research and much more depth episodes 63, 64, and 65. I had a conversation with Andrew McAfee. I found it to be so nutrient-rich, let's say, that I broke it up into three parts. There was just so much there parts, there was just so much there Anyway.

Keith Cutter: 14:51

So what can we do about objectionable current flow? A capable EMF consultant I'll just say it that way can identify elevated magnetic fields and track down the patterns that reveal current flowing in places it shouldn't, sometimes including plumbing gas lines or coax cables. But correcting those issues requires collaboration with a licensed electrician and in some cases other tradesmen as well. So the electrician and the capable emf consultant working together can complete the diagnosis and the electrician then physically rework the system to eliminate objectionable current flow and also parallel paths and a bunch of other stuff. So that work might include identifying and correcting wiring errors, resolving improper neutral returns or bonding paths, installing dielectric unions, installing coaxial ground loop isolators, and much more. Every house is different, but the objective is the same Find the source of the current that's creating the field and correct the path it's taking, together with the appropriate tradesman when needed, with the appropriate tradesmen when needed. Now that you know a little bit about magnetic fields.

Keith Cutter: 16:41

We need to talk about environmental fields, how they're created by current flow and why the cancellation between hot and neutral conductors is so important. Let's take a close at two major sources of magnetic fields that can affect entire properties, neighborhoods or even regions where electric power exists. We're talking about overhead or underground power lines and return current flowing through the earth. Let's talk about magnetic fields from overhead or underground power lines. From overhead or underground power lines, whether larger transmission towers or smaller neighborhood distribution lines, carry long, large amounts of current. That current generates magnetic fields in the space around the wires. The more current flowing, the stronger the field. Now, one thing to notice about the uninsulated wires that run above the ground is they can't be as close together as the wiring in your house between the hot and the neutral. And there is a neutral wire up there, to be sure, but it's a long distance, relatively speaking, from the hot wire or wires in a three phase configuration. So ideally, like I say, these would cancel similar to how hot, neutral wires cancel when they run closely together inside a home. But with above ground power the physical spacing between conductors is much greater. So cancellation is, we'll just say, incomplete, depending on the amount of current flowing and the configuration of the lines. Magnetic fields can extend hundreds of feet from the source. The strength decreases with distance, but homes located near power lines typically experience significantly higher exposure levels.

Keith Cutter: 22:08

Underground power lines, by the way, are not exempt. You want to prove this? Take a good quality 3-axis AC magfield meter and walk around a subdivision that has underground power. You'll see some very interesting things. So underground power lines are not exempt. There's a little confusion. Underground power lines are not exempt. There's a little confusion. When you put a power line underground, it does knock out the electric fields, but not the magnetic field component, and if the conductors are not tightly bundled, then you have that issue as well. So that's the first thing to consider. Okay, and that is a source of magnetic field exposure.

Keith Cutter: 23:04

But there's something else. It's when magnetic fields form because of return current flowing through the Earth, a separate but related issue. In an ideal system, current travels out on the utility's phase conductor or conductors and returns entirely on the neutral. But in practice, a significant portion of the return current leaves the neutral conductor and travels through the ground instead. This unbalanced condition generates widespread low-frequency magnetic fields. These fields can affect vast areas, impacting individual homes, neighborhoods, farmland and more. In fact, return current through the earth is present to some degree wherever electric power is distributed, and get this even in locations with no visible infrastructure. If you'd like to hear more about that, check out episode 39, uninhabitable Land. This is the direct consequence that this phenomenon of very broad spread magnetic fields. It is a phenomenon associated with return current flowing through the earth. It's a direct consequence of what's called the multi-grounded neutral system widely used in North American power distribution. With the multi-grounded neutral systems, the neutral is intentionally bonded to the earth at multiple points along the line, which allows maybe guarantees would be a better word return current to divide between the neutral wire and the earth, resulting in magnetic fields over a vast area.

Keith Cutter: 25:29

Okay, so let's get into why any of this matters. Who cares about magnetic fields and all that business? Let me start this way AC magnetic fields don't exist in nature and may be fundamentally at odds with the Earth's steady-state DC magnetic field. Let me just say a little bit more about this.

Keith Cutter: 26:01

I think when we were kids we all played with magnets, right when somebody gave you a magnet or a little set of magnets and you could play with them, and two magnets. If you pushed them together in the wrong way, they would repel one another, and if you put them together the other way, they would attract one another. Depending on the strength of the magnet, it might be even that they're really hard to pull apart. So if you're like me, when you're a little kid you might stick a magnet on one side of your finger and stick the other one on the other side of your finger, and there it sat. They weren't touching each other. Some invisible force was between those two items and it was fun in the days before smartphones to actually play with physical things in the physical world, and I spent some time as a kid exploring that. You know you put a magnet on one side of a piece of paper and one on the other side and then you can drag the magnet around with the paper separating it. For a strong magnet you could do that through a tabletop. Seems very mysterious. We would have access to iron filings in those days. Today, I'll mention you could get those from your cereal box or any other source of enriched flour, actual iron filings, if you can believe it. Not sure those are biocompatible, but anyway you could get a bunch of iron filings, sprinkle it on a piece of paper and put a magnet underneath, you get an idea of the lines of force.

Keith Cutter: 27:41

Why am I talking about this? Well, I don't think anybody has ever explained what magnetism is, and I know we have laws governing it, but I don't know that we really know what it is governing it, but I don't know that we really know what it is. It has a really supreme role in the environment in which we live. You know, when God created the heavens and the earth, magnetism was prominent. How do I know? If you have a compass it always points north why there's a huge magnetic field pulling it in that direction. So arguably that has a tremendous influence on every living thing on Earth.

Keith Cutter: 28:34

This reference to north and we have other magnetic fields, like the Schumann resonance, which is infinitesimal, but it's there and much, much, much smaller, and it's not coming from the north, it's coming from the earth itself. The frequency of that Schumann resonance, and therefore the frequency of the magnetic field, is 7.83 hertz and, by the way, people and animals have that frequency as sort of their home frequency of their brain. So we're talking about some pretty interesting stuff when you talk about the types of magnetic field that we observe the static or slowly pulsing magnetic fields, and the argument can easily be made that these are foundational to life on Earth. So now imagine this. Imagine if somebody could take that magnetic field that points north and flip it around 120 times a second, back and forth and back and forth, so north becomes south, south becomes north, over and over, and over and over again. Well then it would be an AC magnetic field that we lived in, and I'm pretty sure, since those don't exist in nature, we're not meant to live in an AC magnetic field. For me, my friends, that's enough. For me, my friends, that's enough.

Keith Cutter: 30:25

This whole experiment of can living things live in a synthetic electromagnetic environment? I think it's obvious by now. The answer is no, or not. Very well, that's my opinion anyway. Maybe yours differs. I have a low threshold for avoiding trouble, avoiding toxins, and for me, the precautionary principle until or unless something is ever proven to be safe. I don't treat it like it is. So just the fact that AC magnetic fields do not exist in nature and they may be fundamentally at odds with the Earth's steady-state DC magnetic field is enough for me.

Keith Cutter: 31:13

I'm not aware that AC magnetic fields have ever been proven to be without harm. And I know I don't mean laboratory studies that merely compare extreme field intensities to lower ones. It's idiotic from my opinion. Why do I say that? Because infinitesimal, unmeasurable by virtually all but the best scientific equipment. Rf radiation affects life and yet we have exposure guidelines worldwide millions of times higher than that, maybe billions or trillions of times higher. It's absolutely absurd. We've never proven that there is a safe level of exposure to RF radiation, and I'm just bringing out the point that we haven't done that for AC magnetic fields either, that for AC magnetic fields either.

Keith Cutter: 32:22

What I would want to see is real-world epidemiological data a large population with magnetic field exposure from conception, maybe before conception, as the only variable, compared against a true control group living in an environment completely free of AC magnetic fields, or at a minimum, a smaller but well-characterized population with reliable exposure verification, compared to a control group with zero exposure from conception. But no such land exists anywhere electricity is distributed, making that kind of data impossible to gather Until, or unless it is, we have no basis for assuming safety. Since that data doesn't exist and because I see consistent correlation between increased magnetic field exposure and outcomes like miscarriage at greater than 2.5 milligauss, childhood leukemia, typically over 3 to 4 milligauss, or even suicidal ideation Now that's often above 10 or 20 milligauss in certain occupational settings. Because that's true, I operate on the precautionary principle. I'll try to put the references that I have here principle. I'll try to put the references that I have here. They will be included in my article on Substack and I'll try to remember to put them in the description here if you want to read those. So I operate on the precautionary principle and I help.

Keith Cutter: 34:26

Find it strange that there are a few people out there in the realm of EMF consulting that don't take the same approach. Anyway, that's mine and that's why I have the opinions I do about magnetic fields Inside the home. Magnetic field variability, apart from obvious sources like the main electric panel or large appliances, often points to wiring errors or current flowing where it shouldn't be. I prioritize identifying and correcting these foundational problems before moving on to other concerns, because I find this leads to better results. Period. That's what I find in my work. That's what I do Outside the home.

Keith Cutter: 35:28

Ambient magnetic fields from utility infrastructure or return current through the earth set a baseline that typically can't be lowered. When background levels are too high, clients may wish to reconsider the location altogether, and I'm just going to repeat what I've always said since the beginning it isn't up to me to decide what is inhabitable or uninhabitable for any particular client. It's for them to consider. So that's why magnetic fields are often the first thing I check. Most environmental sources can't be fixed, and elevated levels indoors often reveal problems. No one else thought to look for.

Keith Cutter: 36:18

Magnetic fields quietly define what is possible long before any other remediation work begins. Understanding magnetic fields, what causes them, how they behave and what they reveal, is foundational to effective EMF assessment. Environmental exposures differ significantly from in-home variability and it's critical to understand both the distinction and the implications. Whether you're evaluating your own home or working professionally with clients, this knowledge shapes what's possible and defines the potential scope of work right from the start. So that's it, my friends. That is Keith's latest look at how I think about magnetic fields, therefore, what I communicate to my clients and those who are training with me to begin their journey in helping others with EMF assessment and remediation hope, as always, that this might be helpful and I ask for your prayers that this work here on the podcast and my work on Substack, youtube and the other places where I am active might be a blessing.

Keith Cutter: 37:45

By the way, just a quick note here, I published something elsewhere on YouTube because I can't really do it on the audio podcast and that is something that Rosalito and her friends have been putting together one-minute histories of electromagnetic sufferers around the globe. It began as just a European initiative to make their politicians and doctors aware of this situation and it's grown to something much bigger. So when I talked to her earlier this week, there were 3,250 signatories, people who had signed on to be a part of this, and there are a lot of histories that you can read. There are a lot of histories that you can read and 18, and then 19. 18, when I created a video with Rosalito and finished the editing and was halfway through the uploading, and Rosalito contacts me and says oh, there's another one, there's 19 now, and it was an Italian gentleman. I would have loved to include it, but at some time, at some point, you just have to publish.

Keith Cutter: 39:14

Anyway, it is a marvelous thing. It is something very special to be able to hear from somebody's own voice, even though it's in a different language. But YouTube has subtitles which you can do in English language. But YouTube has subtitles which you can do in English. It's something to look in somebody's eyes, feel their suffering and have them speak about this in their own words. So I'll encourage you, maybe take a trip over to YouTube and check that out. And yeah, just wanted to mention that. So if you would pray with me that this work would be a blessing for many, I would appreciate that. Keith Cutter emfremedycom, see you next time.

Gweneth: 40:09

The EMF Remedy Podcast is a project of EMF Remedy LLC. We'd like to be your trusted guide for achieving a better EMF environment in your home. The contents on this podcast are provided for informational purposes only and are not intended to substitute for the advice provided by your doctor or other healthcare professional. It is not intended to be, nor does it constitute, healthcare or medical advice. Opinions of guests on this podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the EMF Remedy Podcast.