# Vacuum cleaner

> A high-current motor at floor level and at arm's length: 100–700 mG (10–70 µT) at 15 cm and 20–200 mG (2–20 µT) at 30 cm, with no unit in the measured set falling to background at 30 cm.

- Canonical URL: https://emfbase.com/emitters/vacuum-cleaner
- Collection: Sources & emitters
- Record id: `emitters:vacuum-cleaner`
- Status: verified
- Last verified: 2026-08-12
- JSON: https://emfbase.com/api/emitters/vacuum-cleaner
- Also known as: hoover EMF, vacuum EMF

## Key values

- **Category:** elf magnetic
- **Emission bands:** Power frequency
- **Environments:** home, workplace
- **Duty cycle:** Continuous while running, typically under an hour per session.

## Field strength by distance

- **15 cm:** 100–700 mG — Measured range — Measured range at 15 cm from the body of the machine (10–70 µT), from the EPA's 1992 survey of 60 Hz appliances — a class range, not a figure for any particular modern unit. [nrc-1997-appliance-fields, epa-1992-appliance-fields]
- **30 cm:** 20–200 mG — Measured range — Measured range at 30 cm (2–20 µT). Unlike most appliances, the weakest unit measured was still well above background at this distance. [nrc-1997-appliance-fields, epa-1992-appliance-fields]

## Mitigations, most effective first

- **Use the full length of the wand and hose rather than working close to the motor housing.** — The field falls off steeply: 30 cm of extra separation cut the measured range by roughly a factor of five.
- **Keep a canister or upright machine's motor away from the torso of whoever is pushing it.** — Exposure tracks the distance to the motor, not to the nozzle.

## Measure with

- ELF gaussmeter (power-frequency magnetic field)

## Related records

- [Household background magnetic field (50/60 Hz)](https://emfbase.com/emitters/household-background-magnetic-field): Away from appliances, homes typically sit below a few milligauss; the WHO's epidemiological association with childhood leukaemia begins at a daily average of 3–4 mG (0.3–0.4 µT).
- [Building Biology SBM-2024 AC magnetic field bands](https://emfbase.com/limits/building-biology-ac-magnetic-bands): Sleeping-area grades at 50/60 Hz: below 0.2 mG no anomaly, 0.2–1 mG weak, 1–5 mG strong, above 5 mG extreme.

## Sources

- `nrc-1997-appliance-fields` National Research Council (US), National Academies Press (1997). *Possible Health Effects of Exposure to Residential Electric and Magnetic Fields, Table 2-3: magnetic-field strengths of common household appliances*. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK232734/table/ttt00003/ — peer-reviewed, link checked 2026-08-12
- `epa-1992-appliance-fields` U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Radiation and Indoor Air (1992). *EMF in Your Environment: Magnetic Field Measurements of Everyday Electrical Devices (EPA 402-R-92-008)*. https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPURL.cgi?Dockey=000005EP.TXT — government, link checked 2026-08-12

Data licence: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Dataset version 2026.08.1. Retrieved from EMFBase, https://emfbase.com.

This record is reference data, not medical or legal advice. Regulatory limits, scientific guidelines and precautionary values are labelled separately and answer different questions.