Government advice recommends that Mobile phone masts should
not be sited near schools without consultation as children are
thought to be more vulnerable to radio frequency radiation emissions
than adults..
When Panorama visited a typical secondary school and measured
the radiation signal strength from a classroom WiFi laptop, they
found the peak exposure for the person using it was three times
greater then the peak signal strength from a mast. The Panorama
report claimed that 70% of secondary schools and nearly 50% of
all primary schools in the UK already have WiFi. Fifty of these
schools were contacted and only one considered there might be possible
health risks, while some had been told there was no risk."
Are the concerns about the health effects of using Wireless Local
Area Network (wLAN) systems in school classrooms unfounded?
A number of schools have dismantled their wireless networks after lobbying
by worried parents and teachers, and others are under pressure to follow
suit.
The technology
The technology used in wireless sytems, such as wLANs is novel
in human evolutionary experience. Human biological responses
have not had sufficient time to adapt to deal with the levels
of radiofrequency we have surrounded ourselves with.
Wireless networks involve daily exposure of children, or of staff members,
to microwaves in enclosed environments. WLAN systems emit radiofrequency
(microwave) radiation into the rooms they are used in, and the emitted
radiation levels could be made worse because of building characteristics
using microwave-reflective structures such as reinforced concrete or
metal joists, or classroom furniture made of steel, etc.
The biology
UK guidelines on public exposure to microwave radiation
have been set at a level which protects from the acute
effects of thermal damage. However body tissues may respond to fields
far lower than the guideline levels.
Specific parts of the electromagnetic spectrum
seem to elicit biological responses, whilst those parts above
and below may not have the same effect (the window effect). It appears
that the biological response is not necessarily proportional to the
power of the exposure.
Formal laboratory studies usually do not allow for a) the window
and power variations referred to above, or b) the different susceptibilities
within the population. Not everybody seems to be affected to the
same extent. The effect may be cumulative rather than
immediate, and the effect may be manifested in gene expression,
protein modification, and cellular ion transport.
Pulsing signals such as those used in WiFi systems appear to elicit
a stronger response than those with just a steady carrier signal.
The symptoms
The symptoms that have been consistently reported include:-
memory and concentration problems, short attention span and
learning difficulties, hyperactivity and mood changes, especially
an increase in aggression
Many of the reports relate to actual exposure
to the sort of radiofrequency radiation that children are likely
to be exposed to in school classrooms where wLAN systems are
in use.
Aggression in the classroom appears to be increasing.
While this may be due to a number
of different interlinked causes, but if microwave radiation
may be involved, there should be a moratorium on
introducing such radiating systems into the school environment.
International
Fformal laboratory studies are usually cited,
including the UK's Health Protection Agency, who conclude that
there is no risk to anybody, although some international organisations
are not quite so dismissive. ICNIRP, the European regulatory
body, whose guideline limits have been adopted by the UK government,
concluded after a literature review "Results of epidemiologic
studies to date give no consistent or convincing evidence of
a causal relation between exposure from radio frequency fields
(RFs) and any adverse health effect. On the other hand, these
studies have too many deficiencies to rule out an association.
Despite the ubiquity of new technologies using radio frequency
fields, little is known about population exposure from RF sources,
and even less about the relative importance of different sources."
A recent report from the Organisation for Economic and Co-operative
Development (OECD,, looked at the educational achievement in
schools in 32 countries. The researchers found that the pupils'
performance in maths and reading dipped among students who used
computers every day either at home or school.
The Vienna Chamber of Doctors has warned that wLAN emits high
levels of radiation. The Public health department of Salzburg
has specifically warned that wLAN and DECT should not be put
in schools and nurseries. The German Doctors appeal, the Bamburger
appeal, also now includes a warning about wLAN. The German teachers'
union has told its members to resist the rollout of wLAN into
schools in Germany on safety grounds. Lakehead University in
Canada has decided not to put in wireless computers as the technology
they use has never been tested and so not proved to be safe.
Are parents' and teachers' concerns about wLANs in schools unfounded?
Powerwatch believes that the studies that have been done on
microwave exposure, both occupational and epidemiological,
together with the experience of residents of communities with
mobile phone masts (who experience a similar sort of level
of radiation as will be found in a school classroom with a
wLAN system), are sufficiently consistent to raise the question
as to whether living and studying in places with microwave
radiation at low levels is without health effects for at least
some members of the general population. It may be that only
a certain percentage of the population is, or will ever be
affected by this form of environmental pollutant. As there
are no biological markers that have yet been discovered to
identify those who are affected in this way as compared with
those who are being affected by something else, the situation
is likely to remain unclear for some time.
Computers can be linked using wired networks, while
further investigation takes place in real life situations and
not just in the laboratory, we recommend this way of making
the new computer technology and internet access available to
our young people.
Reference
- Powerwatch
