Does Wi-Fi make you sick?

[marmar]

from parentcentral (canada):



Living wirelessly could come with a price.

But it depends on who you ask.

With parents in Barrie arguing that Wi-Fi in elementary schools is making their children sick, it appears the jury is still out among scientists on whether electromagnetic radiation from wireless routers can harm your health.

The messy debate in the scientific community is reason enough for some parents, educators and even politicians to challenge the availability of Wi-Fi to young children in schools.

Ontario’s Education Minister Leona Dombrowsky said she’s writing federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq demanding answers for the Barrie parents, whose bid to ban Wi-Fi in their schools this fall was rejected Monday by the Simcoe County school board.

And on Tuesday, Canada’s largest teachers’ union, the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, is set to vote on a proposal by Niagara Region members to lobby school boards to limit the use of wireless technologies in schools, citing possible health concerns for children.

But what exactly does the science say and are the concerns warranted?

Tony Muc, assistant professor at the University of Toronto and chief physicist at the Toronto-based Radiation Health and Safety Consulting group, insists the concerns are unwarranted.

“(Wi-Fi technology) does not come anywhere near the guidelines set for (radiation) exposure limits by various international agencies, including Health Canada. That guideline is uniformly supported by scientific consensus,” Muc said.

But Magda Havas, a Trent University professor who focuses on the biological effects of electromagnetic pollution, said numerous studies have shown how Wi-Fi can cause headaches, nausea and memory loss. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/familyhealth/children%27shealth/article/848739--does-wi-fi-make-you-sick

[UndertheOcean]

1. ..

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[KharmaTrain]

3. Here We Go Again...

Seems like anytime something technical becomes popular, there's a "study" that shows its bad and evil. A century ago there were those who believe that an open light socket would drip electricity if it weren't turned off. The power emitted via WiFi is minimal...and unlike the cellphone concerns (still pretty much unproven), you don't hold your router or laptop to your head or body. I'd be more concerned with the large amounts of polution kids suck in on their school bus ride over some brain-frying possibility on a small wireless router.

[Matariki]

4. Or it could be all that sugar in their diets and lack of exercise

that's making them sick

[backscatter712]

5. OOOH, BIG SCARY ASSERTIONS WITH NO EVIDENCE!!!

Wi-Fi's nothing more than low-power digital radio signals. Since radio's been in use for more than a century, we'd probably have figured out by now whether it's harmful or not...

Short of standing in front of a military radar dish, climbing up on a commercial radio antenna or sticking your head in a microwave oven, they're not going to hurt you. And in those cases, we're talking about kilowatts of energy, rather than the milliwatts you'd get from a wi-fi device.

[AngryAmish]

6. No. And anyone who thinks that it does is a complete shithead.

[Freddie Stubbs]

7. King Ludd is alive and well

[NoNothing]

8. I don't want to live on this planet anymore.

[Blue Owl]

9. DiFi sure as hell does

n/t