Do TVs Emit Radiation? – Complete Guide

First of all, to answer the question, of do TVs Emit Radiation, the answer would be yes, but only a small amount.

That is because modern TVs that use LCD, LED, or Plasma screens only emit a small amount of radiation from the circuitry, and not really from the screen.

Previous versions of the TV that used a Cathode-Ray Tube to power the screens emitted an enormous amount of radiation.

With that being said, TVs still do emit enough radiation at a close distance that it is worth keeping your children and yourself at a fair distance.

However, if you're watching the television from the couch or anywhere more than a few feet away, EMF radiation is not really something you will need to worry about.

Now, let's dive a bit deeper into exactly how TVs emit radiation, how much radiation they emit, how you can measure it, and how you can eliminate it.

How Do TVs Emit EMF Radiation?

Modern televisions emit EMF radiation in a few ways, so let's talk about each individually.

TV Radiation From Circuitry

Just about any electronic device that has a circuit board is going to emit some EMF radiation. How much radiation the device emits, or the kind of radiation completely depends on the build of the device.

I’ve written articles on radiation emitted by microwaves, refrigerators, washing machines, and even alarm clocks, just so you have a little better understanding of how even simple home appliances can emit harmful radiation.

Although this is a relatively small amount of radiation if you have a small television, it is certainly measurable.

Skip down to the section about how to measure EMF radiation from your TV for more on this.

Dirty Electricity Radiation From Converter.

I've written several posts about dirty electricity, so I won't go into this too in depth, but here are the basics:

The wiring in your home, depending on where you live, is likely either 50 or 60 hertz of AC electricity. For a very long time, this worked well because most electronics that would use this electricity required exactly that.

However, as new electronics were developed, the requirements changed. Now, many electronics including dimmer switches, smart TV's and just about anything else, require more, less, or different electricity than the lines provide.

This is often referred to as High-Frequency Voltage Transients, and cause random spikes and surges of electricity that then become unusable.

This “dirty” electricity gets stuck in the lines and emits EMF radiation. The only way to simply get rid of it is with a dirty electricity filtration system.

Radio Frequency Radiation From Smart TV

Many, or most, TVs either come with smart tv features built in, or are using a connected box to provide access to things like Netflix, Hulu, and more.

Since these are wireless devices that require a large amount of data to be transferred back and forth, they produce a large amount of EMF radiation via radio frequency.

I tested the RF Radiation from a large smart TV made by Sony, and the max RF radiation I saw was over 10 mW/m², with an average reading of around 4 mW/m² (as you can see from the image).

We'll talk about this a bit more down below in my section on the dangers of smart TVs.

How Much Radiation Do Televisions Emit?

As we talked about above, most modern TVs can emit a very large amount of EMF radiation, but not for a far distance like the old CRT versions could.

Obviously, every TV is going to be dramatically different based on its size, the brand, the quality, the technology, whether it has built-in smart TV functionality, etc.

However, the Long Island Power Authority did a study of EMF radiation emissions from home appliances and concluded that the average TV produced the following amount of EMF radiation at these distances:

• 1 Inch: 25 to 500 mG (milliGauss)
• 1 Foot: .4 to 20 mG
• 3 Feet: <0.1 to 1.5 mG

As you can see, if you watch TV from a reasonable distance away from the screen, the TV itself is unlikely to expose you to very much EMF radiation.

at 1 Inch Away = 25 to 500 mG at 1 Foot Away = 0.4 to 20 mG at 3 Feet Away = <0.1 to 1.5 mG

Now, I tested the same Sony smart TV I mentioned above, at close range, and saw readings of over 700 mG, and moving back about a foot I saw readings of nearly 50 mG.

Sometimes technology produces something safer, easier, more convenient, and better in every way!

EMF Radiation From LED TVs

LED, or Light Emitting Diode, TVs are an extremely popular and common type of television because they are inexpensive to produce and provide really great quality.

These televisions when it comes to EMF radiation are relatively safe and are a popular option.

However, measures should still be taken to reduce your exposure to these types of TVs, which I'll cover below in my section on reducing radiation from TVs

EMF Radiation From LCD TVs

This will not be much different than the EMF radiation from an LED TV, as the circuitry required to produce the light necessary for this type of TV is not really any different than the LED TV.

EMF Radiation From Plasma TVs

Plasma TVs emit a small amount of UV radiation, as well as other types of EMF radiation from the circuitry.

Plasma TVs, like any modern TV, only emit a small amount of radiation at reasonable distances, but at a very close range can expose you to a fairly large amount of EMF radiation.

Although they do not emit any x-ray radiation like older CRT TVs did, plasma TVs often come in very large sizes, so be sure you have a fairly good distance between the watcher and the TV.

It is important to note here that none of these types of modern TVs (LED, LCD, or Plasma) give off any X-ray radiation, they only emit EMF radiation. 

Do Televisions Emit X-ray Radiation?

X-rays are produced when electrons traveling at extremely high speeds strike another object in a vacuum.

If you're curious to read more about exactly how X-rays produce EMF radiation and can be extremely harmful, check out my full post on it.

Now, the average TV does not produce any X-rays whatsoever. The only TVs that did produce X-rays, although it was an unintentional and dangerous side effect, were cathode ray tube (CRT) TV sets that are no longer being produced.

This would happen due to the many thousands of parts contained in the TV producing electrical volts, these would sometimes collide and produce enough x-rays that they were capable of escaping the internal environment.

This was obviously a hazard which is why these TVs are very hard to come by today.

The danger was so great for early TVs however, that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandated a program called the Electronic Product Radiation Control Panel that was tasked with evaluating the x-radiation from electronic devices.

In 1969 the panel decided that the federal standard would be set that TV receivers could not emit more than .5 milliroentgen per hour (mR/hr) of x-radiation. These amounts would be determined based off the maximum radiation emitted, ensuring that under normal use conditions, this would be far less, and safe for the household.

Smart TV Radiation

First of all, to answer the question, do Smart TVs Emit EMF Radiation: Yes, they do, in a few ways.

First of all, a smart TV by definition is a television that has a wireless receiver, and some sort of operating system, that allows it to connect to the internet and allow you to watch services such as Netflix, Hulu, and much more.

As you may know, any device that receives WiFi is going to emit at least some radio frequency EMF radiation.

There are ways to connect your Smart TV to the internet via ethernet, which for any device is always a better option as it will dramatically reduce the EMF radiation from WiFi in your household.

Smart TVs are also often a bit more demanding with power usage because they essentially have a small computer inside running an operating system that allows you to browse through various applications.

To compare this with a modern TV that does not have built-in smart TV functionality, think of attaching an iPad to the back, and you'll be able to have at least some picture of the increased amount of EMF radiation.

Take a look at the video below to see a live example of EMF radiation being emitted from a simple LED smart TV

TV Radiation With Babies and Children

The bottom line is, that children, especially babies, are significantly more vulnerable to exposure to EMF radiation.

Here are a few reasons why:

First of all, children have much smaller heads than adults. As an example, the specific absorption rate (SAR) for mobile phones is measured based on a 220 male adult. Government regulations for EMF emissions are almost never based off a child.

As radiation passes through an object, it is reduced, this is called attenuation. As an example, the lead vest you wear at the dentist attenuates the X-rays, and the tinted windows on your car attenuate the sunlight. Well, your skull and brain matter attenuate radiation. Since a child's brain and head are smaller, it is capable of penetrating deeper.

Next, children also have much thinner skulls. Bone actually does a reasonable job at attenuating EMF radiation, but it cannot stop it, therefore a thinner skull will allow more radiation to penetrate.

If you want to read more about the technicals of why children's brains are more susceptible to EMF radiation, take a look at this study.

So, if you do have young children like I do, try to not let them play or watch right in front of the TV. It is a good idea when possible to wall mount the television so that it is higher off the ground and will add some distance.

How To Measure EMF Radiation From A Television

As you can see in the video below, your TV is going to emit EMF radiation, of several kinds.

The best way to know just how much radiation is being emitted is to get a good EMF meter. I always recommend the new TriField TF2 (read my review) as it’s simple to use, lasts forever, is extremely accurate, and measures all three types of EMF radiation.

An EMF Meter is the most valuable tool you will have in your arsenal when you are trying to reduce EMF radiation in your home.

First, it will allow you to know how much, and what kind of EMF radiation is being emitted. More importantly, though, it will allow you to know if your efforts to reduce radiation are working by allowing you to test before and after.

To test the radiation of your TV, I would first measure near the television with it turned off. This will give you a baseline reading, to begin with. I would then turn the TV on, and give it a few minutes to boot up and connect to any services it is going to connect with.

After the TV has had a chance to boot up, I would test each type of radiation, Radio Frequency (microwave), Electric, and Magnetic. If you have the TriField TF2, you can do this by simply turning the dial. This will give you a full picture of how much EMF radiation your TV is emitting.

How To Reduce Your Exposure to EMF Radiation From Your TV

The most important thing you can do is gain distance from your television. I showed it up above, but take a look at the EMF exposure amounts at the following distances:

• 1 Inch: 25 to 500 mG (milliGauss
• 1 Foot: .4 to 20 mG
• 3 Feet: <0.1 to 1.5 mG

As you can see, if you're sitting directly in front of your television, you will be exposed to a moderate amount of radiation, but if you move just a few feet back, you will reduce this to almost nothing.

Next, if you have a smart TV, look into ways to connect via ethernet to reduce the WiFi use of the TV.

Finally, consider getting a dirty electricity filtration system for your home. You would be surprised at just how much EMF radiation is being emitted from the dirty electricity in the electrical lines of your home. Check out this guide to learn a ton more about this.