Wi-Fi radiation scare: the verdict

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 22 May 2007 at 12:10

Are Wi-Fi networks really a threat to our health? Last night, the BBC's Panorama programme claimed that radiation levels from Wi-Fi equipment in one school was up to three times the level of mobile phone mast radiation.

The programme has provoked a lively debate between scientists, Wi-Fi users and commentators alike. Here we round up a selection of the reaction to the BBC's claims.

'Radio waves (Wi-Fi) and other non-ionising radiations have been part of our lives for a century or more and if such effects were occurring then damage or other untoward effects would have been recorded and studied. Research is still proceeding in this area at leading centres in many countries but evidence points to wi-fi transmissions being well below any likely threshold for human effects.' -
Professor Malcolm Sperrin, quoted on the remarkably even-handed BBC News website

'My neighbours complained of disturbed sleep whenever I have left my wireless LAN on over night. Running an experiment of randomly turning it on and off, without telling them, it turned out they had had rough nights each time I had left the WLAN activated.' - PC Pro forum contributor, big_D

Don't imagine that the Panorama programme has advanced our knowledge by a millimetre. It was, clearly, put together by people who didn't know what they were doing; and was full of absolute howlers,' - Guy Kewney, writing on The Register

'I am an RF consultant and am disgusted that the BBC haven't done their research properly. Why did this program not mention anything to do with the actual frequencies that the 802.11 standard sits on? Baby Monitors, Cordless phones, CCTV Cameras and even Bluetooth devices all use the 2.4Ghz and send out various radio signals at various powers. If the program had bothered starting a microwave oven in the same area as the classroom test they would have seen an imense increase in prolonged interference.' - Colin Mckevitt, commenting on the BBC website

'I am asking for schools to consider very seriously whether they should be installing Wi-Fi networks now and this [programme] will make them think twice or three times before they do it.' - Philip Parkin, general secretary of the Professional Association of Teachers

'Comparing a Wi-Fi card to a phone mast is as scientific as comparing an iPod's earbuds to a Wembley Rock concert for 'noise pollution' and declaring the iPod louder. Panorama has lost the plot.' - PC Pro forum contributor, cheysuli