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UK Schools Bans WiFi Due To Health Concerns
Mantrid42 writes "Schools in the UK are getting rid of their WiFi network, citing health concerns from parents and teachers. The wireless emanations, parents fear, may be the root cause of a host of problems from simple fatigue to the possibility of cancer. A few scientists think younger humans may be more vulnerable to the transmissions, because of thinner skulls. From the article: "Vivienne Baron, who is bringing up Sebastian, her ten-year-old grandson, said: 'I did not want Sebastian exposed to a wireless computer network at school. No real evidence has been produced to prove that this new technology is safe in the long term. Until it is, I think we should take a precautionary approach and use cabled systems.'"
" No real evidence has been produced to prove that this new technology is safe in the long term."
I'm sorry, but we're not talking about kryptonite or magical dark matter here.. these are devices operating with known technology in a known spectrum-- and let me add, not the only devices in this spectrum. WiFi isn't the only technology to operate at 2.4ghz (and I think some of the standards.. 802.11a? operate at 5.8ghz) -- are these parents seking to ban microwaves and cordless telephones? Even cellphones (and I'm sure many of them at least use cellular phones around their kids, iand some no doubt actually provide their kids with mobile phones) operate on similar 900mhz / 1800mhz / etc frequencies.
Someone with more of a science background, please reply (and correct me if necessary), but whether or not wireless internet has been studied over the "long term" have not several other devices that operate in the same (or very close) sprectrums? How is this anything but FUD?
I am Jack's complete lack of surprise.
Wireless is minimal compared to everything else. We live in an electromagnetic world, with electromagnetic waves everywhere.
802.11-b/g operate on the same frequency as microwaves (i.e. in the microwave spectrum); a microwave is shielded by physical means (no, no magical force fields when you power it up), and if you toss a laptop inside (don't turn the microwave on!) you can still connect to it over wifi with good signal. The shielding lets more through than wifi.
We have TV stations and radio stations broadcasting electromagnetic signals everywhere. There's electromagnetic waves from these and the earth's magnetic field all through the air. There's even electromagnetic radiation from space penetrating the atmosphere, although in very very tiny quantities; without the atmosphere, direct exposure to the level of electromagnetism out there would cook you, kind of like direct exposure to the 1200 watt microwave in the kitchen...
Many cordless phones operate on the 2.4GHz range (some in the 5.0GHz range to avoid colliding with 802.11-a/b/g Wifi) and are everywhere. Cell phones operate in that range too. The police band, tower-to-air radio, and Ham radio wade around high frequency EM as well. Aside from simple cordless phones, these are all a lot stronger than a Wifi AP.
Any device with electricity running through it produces an electromagnetic field in some abstract frequency. You get 60Hz EMI coming out of power lines and power cables; once it hits a transformer you might get more, such as the 15MHz that comes out of a flyback transformer in a TV. You won't get the gigahertz range or anything, but you'll get some sort of electromagnetic field just the same.
You can't escape it. You can hide under a rock 500 meters in the ground but you'll still have enough of the earth's magnetic field to use a compass. What kind of idiot thinks Wifi is magically special?
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According to the article, he taught in the same building for 28 years (which would predate the wireless network), and was ill when the wireless network was put in, but not after the portion near his classroom was removed. It seems unlikely that the lighting or chemicals in the air would change substantially in correlation with the activation or deactivation of the wireless router near his room.
Occam's razor says it was the wireless network. Let's not confuse science with wishful thinking in hoping all cool technology is safe.
Given that radio waves obey the inverse square law, the signal strength of a cell phone 1 cm. away from your brain is about a million times that of a wireless network card a meter away.
This horse manure reminds me of the kind of person who can smoke a cigarette while worrying that oranges cause cancer in rats.
Some people are susceptible to things others aren't -- lots don't notice 60Hz CRT screen refresh as anything more than the occasional flicker, others get migraines from anything less than 120Hz (or a stable display such as a TFT.)
Some people have the misfortune to be allergic to sunlight or even water.
It doesn't follow that because most people are fine in an environment that it doesn't make others ill.
Ph-nglui mglw'nafh Gates M'dna wgah'nagl fhtagn.
To put it simply, 2.4GHz radiation does NOT have enough ionizing energy to cause cellular mutuation, which causes cancer. The most it can do is the heating up of the cells and may possibly kill them, but surely no cells are gonna get mutated into cancer cells.
Once more: 2.45 GHz is NOT the resonance frequency of liquid water, this is a myth.