23 January 2007
Wireless broadband connections via Wi-Fi have come under fire this week after questions were raised as to the technology's safety.
Several consumers claimed that the increase in Wi-Fi connections in their local area had caused them to fall ill, prompting an MP to request an inquiry into the service and several schools to ban it, according to the BBC.
Currently there is no evidence to suggest that Wi-Fi connections could possibly have an adverse effect on people's health, but the BBC's Richard Westcott spoke to one woman who claimed that she had been forced into using special insulating wallpaper and a detector, to keep her symptoms under control.
But Dr Michael Clark, a doctor from the Health Protection Agency, rubbished claims that the electromagnetic waves could make somebody ill.
Speaking to the Times, he said: "When we have conducted measurements in schools, typical exposures from Wi-Fi are around 20 millionths of the international guideline levels of exposure to radiation.
"As a comparison, a child on a mobile phone receives up to 50% of guideline levels. So, a year sitting in a classroom near a wireless network is roughly equivalent to 20 minutes on a mobile.
"If Wi-Fi should be taken out of schools, then the mobile phone network should be shut down too and FM radio and TV, as the strength of their signals is similar to that from Wi-Fi in classrooms," he concluded.
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