EMF Rating inside the 2010 Toyota Prius, anyone checked theirs?

Will it be more or less than sitting in front of your tv, surfing on wifi on your lap or calling someone on your mobile phone?

I'm not being funny here, I do seriously wonder how it will compare with the above.

 

You aren't talking about EMF, you are talking about magnetic fields. There are none generated by the Prius in the cabin. If there were, it just wouldn't be efficient. And it is. So far all the screaming has come from people who manage to measure the -Earth's- magnetic field and don't know or bother to figure that out.

As far as RF fields, these are also very low. They don't bother a very sensitive and broad band handheld radio operating in the car, for example.

 

First use the "search" function and see the history of such tests. But here is something to ponder from Toyota:

Newsroom : 2010 Toyota Electronic Throttle Control Webinar / Toyota

Newsroom : Toyota Statement on March 23 Trial Lawyer-Sponsored Media Event at National Press Club / Toyota

We've found EMI/EMF to be a recent claim by a yoga trainer at the Huffington Post who repeated the widely discredited Sudbury claim. Her earlier articles included at least one yoga position or practice but this article had no yoga content. It was a report of her EMI/EMF complaint.

I blanked out the "personality" type because it is more important to find engineers, scientists and technologists who understand how to conduct an experiment. Honesty in science and technology has nothing to do with personalities.

So far, dating back to the introduction of the Prius in 2000, we are not finding any credible, reproducable reports of an EMI or EMF problem. Worse, there is another specific question that predates Prius emissions . . . the 'human EMI/EMF detector.'

Our species has been generating substantial EMI/EMF fields from power lines, phone lines, cell phones, and radio broadcasts for over 100 years predating the Prius. Radar was at one time proposed as a 'death ray.' Yet curiously, we're not finding folks who have to live in EMI/EMF free environments ... the 'human EMI/EMF detector.'

If this is something that concerns you, the first thing is to get yourself tested for EMI/EMF sensitivity. Once we have your calibration curve, all EMI/EMF fields come into question.

There is a belief in the anti-hybrid crowd that Prius owners are 'wooly thinkers' who can be scared by pseudo-science nonsense. No doubt there are folks who match that profile throughout society. But trying to bend over backwards for this minority, it is easier to have them visit the Gulf of Mexico and tell us about petroleum headaches.

Bob Wilson

 

Ah, the thread topic that just never goes away. The fact an individual owns a computer, most likely connected to the Internet with WiFi and probably using a BlueTooth mouse, and raising concern about EM fields is ironic

Bob, you truly are a comedian. Since when has anybody ever listened to a properly trained engineer who is proficient in his/her field of study?

Ha!

 

Good article on EMF danger to humans.

electromagnetic field (EMF), electromagnetic radiation - The Skeptic's Dictionary - Skepdic.com

 

You are my hero Bob.

 

Please, do not measure the fields on your own unless you know what it is your meter is showing you. Getting random numbers just adds to the confusion. Make sure you get a meter that gives you the full waveform so that you can see what the field strength is as well as the frequency. Know how your meter responds to transients.

Most of these off-the-shelf "meters" are made to measure power line fields, and will give screwy results with other frequencies and/or transients.

 

With a Gauss meter? What are your trying to measure and why? Are you trying to measure the fringing fields from the two MGs? The field from the current leads to the battery? Either way, the residual fields in the cabin are going to be pretty small, and fairly low frequency. They are going to be nearly impossible to measure against the earth's field especially if you are going to try and use something like a flux-gate magnetometer in a moving vehicle. Further I think there is even less evidence for any physiological effect of small low-frequency magnetic fields as for high frequency EMF (and there is scant and conflicting evidence for that).

I kind of agree with HolyPotato that you should really understand what you are looking for and how to do such an experiment well, before you undertake it. You should also have a good mechanism in mind for generating whatever effect you are looking for and sound reasoning for why it is important.

 

I have used the high-end scopes from Agilent, and used within an isolation room they will provide accurate enough results to meet NSA TEMPEST requirements

They also start at around $75 G's. I had no idea you could get them mail-order and hand-held

 

Hi Funologist,

If you are really concerned about magnetic fields, do not stick those ear-plug style sound transducers in your head. They are 1000s of times higher in magnetic field than the Earth, which is several times more intense than the fields from a Prius in the Prius cabin...

 

When I was younger, (before cell phones and when pay-phones were 10 cents and on every corner) I had a CB radio with a 450watt sideband amplifier, honestly I recall conversations around the world from my car. One time while waiting for someone who went to use the rest room at a local 7-11, when they came out they told me they could hear my voice coming over the radio in the store. Does anyone think that I may have exposed myself to excessive EMF / EMI or maybe some other dangerous waves?

 

No I don't think you have a thing to worry about on that score, read the link in post # 6. I worked on a high voltage power system for over 20 years and did some research on the subject, for my own information and as part of my job. I am convinced there is no danger from low energy photons. UV, X-rays, and gamma rays are a different story.

The IR coming from a stove or fireplace consists of photons that are far more energetic than any you would encounter from the equipment you mentioned.The only thing that happens if you get to many of them is you move away because you feel to warm.

 

Oh, I don't know about that. I've also worked with RF and high power fields for a long time, and I'm dieing! They tell me to expect that when I reach in the upper 80s lower 90s in age. So it must have been the RF! Time to sue.

 

jayman and all the computer, wifi and mobile phone guys:
have you measured the current (Amper) sucked by MG2 (traction motor)?
Yes, or no?!
If no, stop comparing a 2-watt mobile phone to a 30kW electric engine.
Question two:
do you have an idea at which frequencies does the Inverter, MG1, and MG2 work?
What is their efficiency, and what is the value at which the frequency spectrum
of the inverter is cut?
Yes, or No?

The original question was if there is somebody who has done some measurements.
Pls try to focus on the questions.

 

Let's get one thing straight: I am a consulting engineer who has 20 years experience performing EMP/EMI testing for military and government clients. I am NOT a "computer, wifi, and mobile phone guy"

The questions you asked, are those with the DC power supplied by the NiMH traction battery, or from the inverter/converter, which is heavily shielded

Others have performed compliance testing. I suggest you use the "Search" feature to verify this, including within this topic

A word on compliance testing: the NIST-certiied devices easily cost $60,000, and up. A little gadget you buy for <$50, presumably designed to measure at 60 Hz nominal, is all but worthless

 

How about focusing on real science. The high currents and magnetic fields in MG1 and MG2 are largely contained inside of these devices. By their very design, engineers try to keep the fields inside of electric motors. This isn't due to some altruistic need to protect people and cuddly creatures, but simply for efficiency. Any field leak represents a loss of power.

As for computer, wifi, and mobile phone guys, I am an electrical engineer with 31 years of post-degree experience. I have an excellent background in motors, power distribution, and electromagnetic field theory. I'll integrate Maxwell's equations with you any day.

If you want to discuss strong fields, I was the head of development engineering for the MRI division of a large medical imaging company. The field strengths inside of those things are incredible. We boiled water in them on more than one occasion.

Tom

 

My wife does something similar every day in our microwave oven!

 

Same principle, slightly less power.

Tom

 

One of the PriusChat members sparked some interest in the subject: http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-hybrid-news/83240-mythbusters-emf-2.html#post1162144

His posting attracted interest to: Consumer Reports Cars Blog: Mythbuster: EMF levels in hybrids

Bob Wilson