Hi Robyn,
So it seems you are mainly concerned about the magnetic fields that result
from strong electrical currents. If the wiring is done properly, up to
current codes, there shouldn't be much of this in the room (maybe except at
the box itself?). Current standards (someone correct me if I get anything
wrong here) call for wrapping wires around each other, which has the effect
of causing their magnetic fields to pretty much cancel out. But in older
houses, or done by someone not complying with the codes, there can be a lot
of current-carrying wires running in parallel, in which case their magnetic
fields will be reinforcing each other, and can lead to some very significant
levels.
Some years back I got an EMF meter (measures electric, magnetic, and
radio/microwave emissions) and found it very interesting to measure magnetic
fields in various places in our house. There were a few "hot spots", so I
did some re-placing of beds to avoid sleeping in any. I also gained a new
appreciation for why I was always told as a kid to sit "at least six feet
away" from the TV set -- the TV (at least ours) has a very strong magnetic
field when it's on, but like all magnetic fields it drops off very quickly,
and by 6 feet is down to an "acceptable" level. (The desktop computer also
puts out a strong field, tho the laptop puts out almost none.)
A friend had an old house whose floors turned out to be "cooking" -- one
room turned out to have wires from the entire rest of the house running
under it, and a *very* strong field up to about knee level. He got some
sort of foil which he lined the ceiling under the floor with, which turned
out to be (not cheap, but) cheaper than re-wiring.
Which doesn't answer your question about whether that magnetic field is
likely to damage your remedies, but does suggest that if you're uncertain,
you could probably avoid the problem simply by storing them at least a few
feet away from the box. And/or buy or borrow a field meter and measure,
and/or keep the remedies in a foil-lined box (if you want info as to what
type of foil this was, let me know; I can look it up in one of my mail order
catalogs). If it were me, I'd rather err on the side of caution, and not
*knowingly* store them long-term in a strong field of any kind, if it's
avoidable, but perhaps that's mainly my superstition...
Shannon
on 11/24/02 3:24 PM, Robyn at
folco@tpg.com.au wrote: