Is WiFi safe for your health,

children and at home

Radio waves have always been a subject of study as they help in many ways, such as
communications and GPS. The same radio waves allow you to work wireless in
computer technology. WiFi too is based on radio waves. WiFi is so common today that
you are immersed in WiFi waves all day and night. Can your body sustain damages due
to WiFi signals, if any? Let’s check if WiFi is really dangerous and what are the health
hazards of WiFi signals.

Is WiFi safe for your health? Image: Safe In Schools Organization

Is WiFi safe for your health or harmful

I need not tell you how WiFi works. You know that WiFi signals start from the router
and end up at the reception point of your WiFi enabled device. It’s the same case with
Bluetooth, cellphones etc. However, unlike cellphones and Bluetooth, WiFi signals do
not accumulate at a certain part of your body. Incase of cellphones, it is the ear where
you place the phone and it is always either right or left – which is repeated per call. The
more you talk, the more exposure at a certain point of your brain.

The point here is, WiFi are radio waves that may cause problems, but since there is no
fixed point of your body, touching the devices all the time, the risk is quite low. If you
carry your smartphone to your bed and keep it near your head at night, it may create
problems due to cellular signals. But when there is some distance between your body
and device, the risk becomes lesser.

Dangers and Health Hazards Of WiFi Signals

I will not say WiFi is completely safe, as it does employ harmful radio waves. But it is
safer compared to cellphone signalsthat are more powerful and tend to affect the same
body part again and again. Science has conducted several researches on WiFi waves
and concluded that WiFi waves may potentially cause cancer. In 2011, the International
Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified WiFi as “possibly carcinogenic to
humans”.

There are certain factors that make it dangerous and it is not easy to get out of the RF
signal range. As said earlier, WiFi signals are everywhere. If you switched off your WiFi
at night, you are still exposed to the WiFi signals coming in from neighbors. To see how
many such networks are active just click on the connectivity icon in the system taskbar.
The more the networks, the more vulnerable you are.

Kids are at greater risk of possessing mental (brain) disorders as they grow up in
WiFi environment. You can reduce the risk by turning off your WiFi at nights and by
discouraging kids from clinging to the device for long durations. Make sure that they
do not take it to bed. You also educate them that the waves are harmful so keep devices
as far as possible (from the body).

WiFi safety tips

There is little you can do to keep yourself safe from the WiFi signals. As mentioned
above, even if you close down your WiFi system, you are still exposed to those, coming
from neighboring houses. The only solace here is that, since WiFi signals are coming
from a longer distance, their effect would be lesser – just as the FM waves which aren’t
that harmful.

I will not ask you to go wired even though it is safer than WiFi. Rather, try to keep away
from the WiFi originating points and repeaters where the signals are strong enough to
damage your brain over an extended period of time. If possible turn off your WiFi at
nights or when you are not using them for longer durations.

Another important thing, is to reduce the duration you use WiFi. Your own WiFi is
stronger in your home compared to the WiFi networks around your building. Make
sure you are not spending time on the same table where the router is installed. Do not
sit under repeaters for long. On devices, turn off WiFi when not using it. It will not only
reduce exposure, it will save your battery also.

Remember to switch off your WiFi at night when your family sleeps.

Wi-Fi Health Dangers &

Radiation Health Effects
Wireless Internet routers or Wi-Fi modems use dangerous electromagnetic

radiation to send their signals to your computer through walls. If you have a wireless

Internet router set up in your home or office (or WiMax, Blue Tooth, Air-Port Extreme,

Air-Port Express, Netgear, D-Link, Belkin, Linksys and other wireless network devices)

you are receiving massive EMF exposure, and living or working in a dangerous soup of

radiation.

These antenna radiation patterns have been shown to lead to numerous health

problems. We’ll discuss the technologies and the wifi health risks below, and

the SafeSpace solutions that can help prevent them.

Intensity of EMF Exposure

Those DSL routers and cable modems that make it so convenient to get online

emit electromagnetic radiation in the low gigahertz frequency level—this level of

radiation is considered by scientists and health experts as potentially dangerous. In

fact, the typical home or office wireless networks transmit radio signals in the same

general frequency range as the frequency that microwave ovens use to cook food.

Duration is a Factor in Wi-Fi Health

Dangers
Most wi fi heath damage comes from cable modems and DSL routers don’t get turned

off at night: they stay on. connecting your machines to the internet whether you’re

surfing or not…and flooding your space with EMFs 24/7.

Layering Increases the Wi-Fi Health Affects

Think about when happens when you check for a network signal. Do you see the Wi-Fi

signals of your neighbors? Harmful artificial EMFs are compounding all around you.

Radiation Health Effects

You may have read about a recent case that made the news: A physician noted

members of her family experiencing sleep disturbances, heart palpitations, migraines,

and general poor health, all starting in the same week.

These electromagnetic radiation based ill health effects continued on and on. After

eliminating every other possible cause, she turned off the router and they felt better.

Luckily, they were not in an area swamped with EMFs from wireless technologies from

nearby homes. Needless to say, the family uses a hard-wired Internet connection and

the health problems haven’t come back.

Recent EMF Studies

More scientific EMF studies suggest prolonged exposure to wireless DSL or cable

devices cause tumors, as well as memory loss and other forms of brain damage.

In general, high artificial EMFs like these have been shown to disturb the human

body’s natural energetic field, leading to stress and fatigue as well as DNA changes

and degenerative diseases like cancer. (See EMF health effects.)

What to do about Wi-Fi Health Dangers

Because these EMFs are designed to flood entire homes and buildings, moving away

from them is not an option. While they can be turned off when not in use, or replaced

with hardwired connections, there are the neighboring signals to contend with.
SafeSpace products are designed to influence artificial EMFs, restoring coherence

and balance to the fields around you by setting up a "corrective resonance." In other

words, they alter the EMF, changing it from harmful to harmless.

Radiation can give life and take it away. Sunlight, therapy to kill
malignant tumors, powerful x-rays, and radio waves are all forms
of radiation. Lately, much has been made of the health risks
related to another source of invisible waves: WiFi.

In recent years, politicians and leaders in the health field have

tried to do something about the perceived threat of exposure to
radio-frequency (RF) electromagnetic fields, on which WiFi, cell
phone networks, radio signals, microwave ovens, and cordless
home phones depend. Public fears about RF fields may have hit a
fever pitch when, last summer, the World Health Organization
designated them as a “possibly carcinogenic” agent — alongside
others like coffee — for which evidence of harm is uncertain.
Since then, we’ve heard our nation’s doctors raise concerns about
the health risks related to cell phones; politicians, such as
Elizabeth May, warnpublicly about the potential harms posed by
WiFi; and frightened parents say they’d move their children away
from the invisible threat, as schools impose bans on wireless
internet.
But what do we actually know about the health effects of RF
exposure — and, in particular, the health risks related to WiFi?

Different technologies give off different amounts of radiation,

explained Dr. Patrizia Frei (PhD), a research fellow at the Swiss
Tropical and Public Health Institute, who has conducted reviews on
the health effects of RF exposure. “While mobile phones cause
mostly localized exposure to the head,” she said, “WiFi usually
causes far-field whole-body exposures which are usually much
lower.” According to the UK’s Health Protection Agency, “the signals
are very low power, typically 0.1 watt (100 milliwatts) in both the
computer and the router (access point), and the results so far
show exposures are well within the internationally-accepted
guidelines from the International Commission on Non-Ionizing
Radiation Protection.”
The agency also goes on to note that the frequencies used in WiFi
are similar to those from FM radio and TV, and that RF exposure
from WiFi is likely lower than that of mobile phones. A review of the
evidence on wireless technology and health outcomes by Public Health
Ontario stated, “Wi-Fi exposure are not only well within
recommended limits, but are only a small fraction (less than one
per cent) of what is received during typical use of cellphones.”
(Read more on different types of RF exposures here).
Singling out WiFi as a threat, in isolation from other (higher
intensity) RF sources, then, seems quite science-ish. And those
who banned WiFi in schools should consider dumping radios, cell
phones, TVs, and — why not? — some of the WHO’s other
“possibly carcinogenic” substances, like coffee and baby powder.
Back to the science…

Let’s discuss what we know about RF exposure. The short

answer: We have a pretty big pool of evidence to draw on, but the
science is still working itself out and there are a number of
methodological hurdles to overcome with regard to this type of
investigation.

For starters, much of the research into the health effects of RF

has focused on cell phones and brain tumors. The consensus
here is that overall, there is no increase in the risk of glioma or
meningioma with cell phone use, but there is evidence to suggest
an increased risk of glioma at the highest exposure levels, which
is part of the reason why the WHO’s International Agency for
Research on Cancer (IARC) has said RF exposure is possibly
cancer-causing in humans.
There’s less material on WiFi, even though, as noted, RF
exposure from this source is lower than that of cell phones. For
now, Dr. Joachim Schüz, head of the section of Environment and
Radiation at the IARC, summed it up for Science-ish: “No adverse
health effects in relation to (WiFi) exposure have been
established.” (His sentiments are echoed by Health
Canada and UK’s Health Protection Agency.)
But the dearth of good evidence about adverse health effects
doesn’t mean we are in the clear. All the data we have are fairly
new, since these technologies have only been ubiquitous for the
last 10 to 20 years, and the way we live with them is rapidly
evolving. When it comes to chronic diseases like cancer, Dr.
Schüz noted, “induction periods between exposure and the onset
of disease may be very long.”
Furthermore, there is no established biological mechanism for
how RF fields at low levels would lead to adverse health effects.
“Hence studies showing no effect only provide evidence against
certain assumed mechanisms but it is difficult to rule out any
possible effect,” said Dr. Schüz.

Lastly, there are the notable methodological limitations when it

comes to the research into RF and its effects in humans. On cell
phone studies, Dr. Frei noted that most so far have used a case-
control design: researchers ask people with (cases) and without
(controls) brain tumors about their mobile phone use in the past.
“Do you remember when you started using your mobile phone for
at least once a week?” Dr. Frei asked, noting that people with a
brain tumor might be cognitively impaired and therefore have even
more difficulty remembering.Other studies that looked at cell-
phone subscription records have their flaws, too. “We do not have
information on the use of an individual, we just know when they
got or bought a mobile phone. So there are still limitations with
regard to exposure assessment.” Plus, most of us live with so
many RF sources, it’s difficult to study populations by levels of
exposure.
Nonetheless, Dr. Schüz said he would not recommend banning
Wifi from schools based on the evidence we have. But he
suggests there’s no harm in taking a precautionary approach
where possible. For example, “Heavy mobile phone users can use
hands-free devices to reduce exposure to the head, base stations
of cordless phones can be placed outside the bedroom a hands-
free devices to reduce exposure to the head, and keep base
stations of cordless phones outside the bedroom.” Science-ish
would add: Be wary of conclusive answers and fear-mongering on
this subject. It’s a new and evolving area of science.

After my year-end call for submissions, you told me you were most
concerned about two things: whether WiFi poses health risks, and
which is the most effective diet for losing weight, based on the
evidence. Stay tuned for the second installment on diet next week.
Science-ish is a joint project of Maclean’s, The Medical Post, and
the McMaster Health Forum. Julia Belluz is the associate editor
at The Medical Post. Got a tip? Seen something that’s Science-ish?
Message her at julia.belluz@medicalpost.rogers.com or on Twitter
@juliaoftoronto