By Richard Thurston, 30 November 2006 10:20
NEWS
The Department of Health appears to have been wrong-footed by an MP who called for an investigation into whether wi-fi networks pose a danger to health.
Dr Ian Gibson, former chairman of the Commons Science and Technology Committee, last week called for the Department of Health to set up an inquiry into the apparent dangers of wi-fi communications.
He said that the threat should be seriously examined and that another inquiry should be carried out like the Stewart report into mobile-phone radiation.
The Department of Health has been unable to confirm whether it is taking Gibson's claims seriously, or whether it will launch an inquiry. Calls to the Department from silicon.com sister site ZDNet UK have been met with no clear response this week.
Gibson spoke out after two schools banned wireless networks from their premises over health fears.
Of the two schools, the most notable case was a classics teacher at the prestigious Stowe School in Buckinghamshire who said he had suffered "sudden flushes, pressure behind the eyes and burning sensations", from his school's wi-fi network.
The original Stewart Report of 2000 found no evidence that mobile-phone use caused damage to health, but recommended a precautionary approach.
Compared to mobile-phone networks, wi-fi networks use much less power and operate at frequencies less able to penetrate the human body, two factors that reduce the likelihood of health effects on current evidence.
Carsten Sorensen, senior lecturer in Information Systems at London School of Economics, said: "Any new technology will always be subjected to criticism as being dangerous initially. There is currently no conclusive evidence that wi-fi is a cause for health concerns. It seems to me quite dramatic to suddenly ban wi-fi."
But Sorensen cautioned that the IT industry must not ignore the opinions of health experts. "It is not possible to avoid engaging in a sensible debate on these issues across the barrier between medical and IT professionals," he added.
One wi-fi operator, The Cloud, was immediately sceptical and laughed off Gibson's concerns.
Gibson is a former Dean in Biological Sciences at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, and is now one of the city's two MPs. Norwich has become the first city in the country to deploy a free public wi-fi network across its city centre.
Richard Thurston writes for ZDNet UK.
Comments
There are 4 comments. Join the discussion
1. Jim Davies
According to electrosensitivity.org,uk, symptoms include:
skin itch/rash/flushing/burning and/or tingling, confusion/poor concentration and/or memory loss, fatigue/weakness,
headache, brain fog, 'insects crawling',
chest pain/heart problems, nausea, panic attacks, insomnia, seizures, ear pain/ringing in the ears, feeling a vibration, paralysis, and dizziness
How on earth any study is supposed to pick that out of the morass of day-to-day ups and downs is beyond me.
2. anonymous
I suffer from some of those symptoms on a regular basis and I operate a WiFi network in my house 24/7. I think it has nothing to do with WiFi but more to do with copious class A&B drug abuse when I was younger.
Sounds like the teacher from bucks had a hangover, good cover story to stop the boss having a go.
3. anonymous
Everyone who is going on about the risks of WiFi needs to stay clear of Porthmadog in Gwynedd. The Police radar detector in my vehicle was on full signal strength for the entire lengnth of the High St. due to K and Kaband microwave transmission from automatic door openers and the traffic lights. I wonder where the next expensive risk assessment will be? The field strenth close to a microwave door opener or a set of traffic lights is likely to be far in excess of WiFi and at a worse frequency!
4. Rod Read
We see in your comments that our charity ES-UK has been referred to already, so we should like to clear up a few details which are rather obvious to us as we, probably only us, talk to electrosensitives on a daily basis.
Hundreds now are registered with us.
It is a mixed bag as would be predictable; all social classes, professions, trades and kinds of employment or none are represented. More women than men, more older than younger, geographically from everywhere. Many have a history of previous sensitivities/allergies but not all.
Some electrosensitives are highly qualified scientists, PhDs, ex-MoD, military and health professionals, quite a few in fact. Some were previously hi-tech self-admitted 'geeks'. Not persons easily given over to self-delusion over invisible rays and attacking forces, but highly educated, computer-literate and able to do their homework. They KNOW the chances of invisible unsmellable highly energetic bioactive forces like electromagnetism and microwave radiofrequencies surrounding and invasively penetrating their bodies at all times equals 100%.
And they work out through normal intelligent inquiry just what is causing it, even down to specific equipment like the wi-fi stuff they just bought. It causes symptoms when switced on which go away when switched off or they move out of the vicinity, hardly 'rocket science' or needing compex explanation. Just like Michael Bevington discovered at Stowe School.
Why do some, like him, suffer ill-health symptoms? That is the question that needs answering.
It could be you, tomorrow, no-one expected it.