Irfan’s Corner on the Web On Mac, Linux, Grid, Virtualization and Software Technology

WiFi hazardous to health?? Give me a break!

I just came across this news item which claimed that UK Schools were dismantling wireless networks for fear of health risks! From the original article:

"Parents and teachers are forcing some schools to dismantle wireless computer networks amid fears that they could damage children’s health.
More schools are putting transmitters in classrooms to give pupils wireless access from laptops to the school computer network and the internet. But many parents and some scientists fear that low levels of microwave radiation emitted by the transmitters could be harmful, causing loss of concentration, headaches, fatigue, memory and behavioural problems and possibly cancer in the long term. "

This is absurd! WiFi operates on the Radio band at 2.4 Ghz or 2.5 Ghz (on some versions), this puts WiFi on the Ultra High Frequency Spectrum (300Mhz to 3 Ghz) , this is the same spectrum which is used by television broadcasts, mobile phones, Bluetooth, and Two-Way Radios. If WiFi is hazardous to health, than why not ban TV channels and cell phones along with them??? TV certainly has been round for decades, have we seen any research which relates the mentioned illnesses to TV broadcast radiation, I certainly haven't. Besides the Sun generates tons of high frequency radiation which bombards the planets around it, including the earth. I have seen research related to ultra violet radiation, which has magnitudes more frequency and shorter wavelength than UHF Radio, causing skin cancers, but nothing related to radio radiation.

I'm not saying that WiFi is "completely" safe, because frankly it is hard to prove that _anything_ is safe! But from the widespread use of the same frequency band over decades one can deduce that it is quite safe. Here is a quote from the WLAN health safety FAQ released by the WiFi alliance, in mid 2005:

"The safety of radio waves has been extensively studied for more than 50 years. This large and growing body of research has been regularly reviewed by numerous independent scientific expert panels, government agencies, standard-setting organizations and health authorities from around the world. These organizations have reached the same general scientific
conclusion: there is no established evidence of any adverse health effects from exposure to radio waves when present at or below the recommended limits applied to wireless communications systems. "