The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #101712   Message #2057584
Posted By: Grab
21-May-07 - 08:59 AM
Thread Name: Tech: WiFi harmful?
Subject: RE: Tech: WiFi harmful?
as dangerous to children as mobile phones are

So not at all, then...?

Re different types of radiation, see this link for details of the electromagnetic spectrum. WiFi is 2.4GHz (2 * 109 waves per second), putting it around the edge of the "microwave" and "radio wave" bars on that diagram.

Also see this NASA link for a good description of the relationship between wavelength and energy. Curie is believed to have died from exposure to high-energy radiation following her work with X-rays. That's the reason hospitals have shielded booths for radiographers, and why they don't give too many X-rays to someone in a short space of time.

For high-power microwave/radio output, the only known effect is heating. Emissions levels in Wifi and phones are set low enough that this is highly unlikely to be significant ("low" really *is* low!).

There *are* people who claim to be electrosensitive - that is, allergic to EM radiation in the same way as you might be allergic to pollen. To date, tests have not shown that they actually are - in other words, they could not report when they were or weren't being exposed to EM radiation. All tests so far have been small-scale studies though, so it isn't completely impossible. The largest study on this so far has just ended and the researchers are checking their data, so we should have a better idea soon.

Graham.