Induction hobs are the latest “must have” cooking technology. They are trendy looking, easy to clean, give instant heat, are energy efficient, and said to be more controllable than any other type of hob once you get used to using one.
It all sounds too good to be true until you realise that induction hobs work by generating very high electromagnetic fields (EMFs), many of which have been found to far exceed recommended levels of exposure to whoever is doing the cooking.
Old-fashioned gas, electric and ceramic hobs all heat food by heating the pan it is placed in. Induction hobs are completely different. The heat is generated by placing a pan in the magnetic field generated by a high-frequency electromagnet under the ceramic surface of the hob, and it’s the pan itself that generates the heat that cooks the food. Because of this, only pans made of cast iron or stainless steel with a magnetic bottom can be used because only these are able to support a magnetic field. They must also have a completely flat base.
The International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) sets guidelines for acceptable levels of EMF exposure, but a study conducted in Switzerland in 2012 found that most induction hobs exceed these levels by as much as 16-fold. With so much exposure to EMFs in other parts of our homes these days, why would anyone want to increase this even more and to such a high degree?
Leading expert, Alasdair Philips, states that ‘induction hobs, if used at all, should be used with great caution and that pregnant women (including those trying to become pregnant) and children should keep out of the kitchen while induction cookers are in use.’
If you’re reading this and already have an induction hob in your home or are thinking of buying one, then the only way to know for sure what level of EMFs your particular brand and model emits is to use an EMF meter to check it.
Would I have one in my home? Absolutely not. Give me good old-fashioned gas every time.
Copyright © Clear Space Living Ltd 2012
I am wondering how bad the regular electric burners are? since they are supposedly even less efficient. Ideally i have always loved using gas for cooking…unfortunately, it is not currently a financially feasible option….
All electric equipment emits some electromagnetic fields but the regular electric stove-top burners are usually not too bad. It varies from model to model, of course, so the only way to know for sure is to test with a reliable EMF meter.
Thanks for this info! My mother-in-law has one, I will take care to use the oven instead of it when I’m there.
If you do have one, is there anything you can do to reduce the effects of the high emf levels? I guess avoiding them as much as possible and basic energy hygiene… I’m wondering if you can suggest or offer anything that can help counteract the effects, since replacing such an item is not a cheap & simple solution.
EMF levels reduce drastically with distance so you can reduce exposure to many types of electrical equipment by placing them further away from anywhere you spend a lot of time, such as your bed, desk or sofa. However you can’t do this with an induction hob because you need to stand close to it in order to cook. The reason I wrote this blog article is to give people this information so that they will think twice before buying one in the first place.
If your mother-in-law is stuck with one, the the best I can recommend is that she prepares food well away from the hob when it is turned on, and eats raw food or uses a cooking method that does not require constant stirring.
I have suspected there would be a problem with induction hobs, but found it near impossible to find any information like this. Thanks for the post, it was very helpful. I had decided on going induction when we redo our kitchen but I won’t be now.