Do earthing mats work?

There are various videos on the net showing how earthing mats reduce a person’s electrical charge and that this confers some kind of health benefit.

I am not going to attempt to look at the supposed health benefits.

I am focused on the question, “Do earthing mats reduce a person’s electrical charge?”

A few points to note:

1. Electricity is a current
2. There is ambient electricity in our environment produced by electronic devices.
3. Electricity always moves to ground through the path of least resistance. Some materials are better for conducting electricity than others.
4. The human body can be a conduit for electricity.

The Setup

So lets start with our test equipment:

1. A human conduit attached to…
2. A grounded voltmeter.
3. A grounded earthing mat.

These are all situated in an environment with ambient electricity.

Initial Test

The initial test is done without stepping on the mat. The reading is high as the electricity passes through the human body, through the voltmeter and down to the ground.

Grounding Test

Now the human steps onto the mat.

The mat is very efficient at conducting electricity. It has less resistance than the voltmeter, so the electricity flows to the ground through the mat. The reading on the voltmeter is low.

So what has happened here? The current is unchanged. The ambient electricity is now just bypassing the voltmeter and the earthing mat provides the best rout to the ground.

So what has been accomplished?

I don’t know what the point of grounding is, but if it is to stop the current of electricity, it fails.

In fact the ground mat will likely encourage more electricity to flow through your body than if, say, you were lying on some kind of insulation that wasn’t grounded at all.

I’m not saying grounding mats are good or bad.

I’m just saying the voltmeter test tells you nothing. So don’t waste your money on a voltmeter.

An alternative: find and stop the source of electrical pollution

If ambient electricity concerns you and you can afford a fancy gadget, buy an EMF reader and go around your house to test for hotspots. This will test for electrical discharge… and ghosts.(kidding)

If you find any electronic equipment that is giving off high levels of emissions, then focus on grounding the equipment (as opposed to grounding yourself).

Don’t just take it from me

Here is a useful short article on grounding from an expert on electromagnetic fields (and not someone selling grounding mats).

http://www.emfwise.com/earthing-mat-dangers.php

There are times to ground and times not to ground:

• When NOT to Ground: When there is a lot of unshielded or ungrounded electricity around you, there is a risk that in grounding yourself, your body may provide the shortest pathway to the ground, i.e., the path of least resistance.
• When to Ground: Grounding yourself is potentially beneficial when there is little electricity around you, such as outside on the bare earth, away from external sources of EMF’s.