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General >> Tech Talk >> Alarming news about Wi-Fi networks
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Message started by AnalogAroma on Aug 5^th, 2007, 6:44am

Title: Alarming news about Wi-Fi networks
Post by AnalogAroma on Aug 5^th, 2007, 6:44am

Hi Everybody,

Recently I stumbled upon an alarming news about the health-effects of Wi-Fi networks in the following link.

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_article_id=472357&in_page_id=1965

Children being used as 'guinea pigs' in mass Wi-Fi experiment, warn teachers

The use of wireless computer networks in classrooms should be immediately suspended until an inquiry has fully investigated the health threat to millions of pupils, a teachers' chief urged yesterday.

Philip Parkin, the General Secretary of the Professional Association of Teachers, said that children were effectively acting as guinea pigs because the risk posed by 'wi-fi' networks had not yet been thoroughly considered.

He said scientific evidence prompted him to question the safety of the systems already introduced in 15,000 schools across the UK.

Wireless technology has been linked with loss of concentration, fatigue, reduced memory and headaches. There are also claims that it could increase the long-term risk of cancer.

Addressing the PAT's annual conference in Harrogate, Mr Parkin said: "My real concern is that until there is a full inquiry based on both existing evidence and on newlycommissioned research work, the nation's children are being treated as guinea pigs in a large-scale experiment."

Mr Parkin's demand for an inquiry follows a similar call from Britain's top health watchdog, the chairman of the Health Protection Agency.

Sir William Stewart said in May that a review of the health effects of wi-fi networks was 'timely' amid fears they could pose greater dangers than previously thought.

Wi-fi systems use high frequency radio waves to transmit and receive data over distances of several hundred feet.

They allow users to surf the internet within range of a wireless transmitter and remove the need to connect via a cable.

A typical comprehensive has ten wi-fi transmitters spread around the premises. If a school has thick walls, there may be many more. Children are thought to be more vulnerable to electro-magnetic radiation due to their thinner skulls and still-developing nervous systems.

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Title: Re: Alarming news about Wi-Fi networks
Post by didac on Aug 6^th, 2007, 3:24am

Hi to all,
This seemed to be the periodically "alarming news" that happen around the world regularly relation to wireless communications(mobile phones,Wireless LAN...). My thought about this issue is the following: I'm an engineer, I don't have the knowledge to determine if a radiation level is harmful or not, I expect the biologists and the doctors to determine it, then the limits can be fixed and my job is to design systems compliant with the rules. Saying this I must clarify that I'm not against a serious research about long-term effects, but without raising an unnecesary social alarm(usually raised by people who know nothing about radiation). Last I really liked this last part:

Quote:

A typical comprehensive has ten wi-fi transmitters spread around the premises. If a school has thick walls, there may be many more.

, obviously because a thick wall can add somethin like 30 dB of loss to the Wireless LAN...

Title: Re: Alarming news about Wi-Fi networks
Post by ACWWong on Aug 6^th, 2007, 3:33am

Being based in the UK, the "daily-mail" newspaper is infamous for its "alarming news" stories...

Title: Re: Alarming news about Wi-Fi networks
Post by Geoffrey_Coram on Aug 17^th, 2007, 4:51am

AnalogAroma wrote on Aug 5^th, 2007, 6:44am:

Wireless technology has been linked with loss of concentration,

Yeah, it's hard to concentrate on what the teacher's saying when you're surfing or e-mailing from your PDA ...