Wi-fi technology is
spreading everywhere at quite a pace. Whole cities are becoming wi-fi hotspots (e.g Norwich, parts
of London) so that eager laptop communicators can do it on the bus, in the café
and leaning up against a lamppost. Most people see this as a new freedom.
A smaller number of
people, perhaps the better informed, perhaps the more cautious, are worried
because wi-fi microwave radiation is an unknown quantity and might be a
catastrophic pollutant for all of us – laptop in hand or not. Here are
some recent news items that might worry you:
'Wi-fi networks must be removed from schools to
stop children getting cancer,'
teachers insist
Laura Clark, Daily Mail (9th April 2009)
Wireless
'wi-fi' technology should be removed from schools to prevent millions of
children suffering a heightened risk of cancer and sterility, teachers demanded
yesterday.
The
Association of Teachers and Lecturers called for classroom wireless networks to
be suspended immediately until research has properly considered the threat to
health.
Members
said they were concerned by scientific reports linking wi-fi with impaired concentration,
loss of short-term memory, chromosome damage and increased incidence of cancer.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1168547/Wi-fi-networks-removed-schools-stop-children-getting-cancer-teachers-insist.html
‘Man-made electromagnetic
fields: are we at risk?’
(From European Parliament website ‘News’ 13/3/09)
We
revel in the ways in which mobile phones and wireless internet make our lives
easier. However, is there a darker side to this, are waves from human-made
electromagnetic fields damaging our health? Belgian Liberal Member Frédérique
Ries is sufficiently concerned that she is urging fellow MEPs to back
precautionary measures before the full weight of scientific knowledge weighs
in. On Wednesday evening the full European Parliament will consider her report
on the matter.
It
is now two years since the number of mobile phones in Europe exceeded the
number of people. As you will have noticed phone network coverage is almost
everywhere - something that we have now come to expect. Add to this Wi-Fi
networks, phone masts, power lines, GPS receivers and we are talking about a
growing amount of electromagnetic waves.
The
health risks are as yet unknown. What is known is that human beings are now
almost constantly exposed to what Ms Ries calls "a cocktail of
electromagnetic fields".
The World Health Organisation has already
said that given the novelty of mobile telephony it will not know the public
health consequences until 2015. Put grimly, this is when people could start
dying of cancer.
The Ries report calls for action
now based on the precautionary principle used in other forms of public policy.
It calls for the following steps:
§
An EU limit of 3 volts per metre. Nine countries
already have this limit.
§
Antennas and phone masts should be set a specific
distance from schools and hospitals.
§
Maps of exposure to high-voltage power lines, radio
frequencies and microwaves should be publicly available online.
At present
there are no EU-wide laws governing the safety of mobile telephony, just a
recommendation. The report will be presented late on Wednesday evening - 1
April.
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/public/story_page/066-52826-089-03-14-911-20090326STO52724-2009-30-03-2009/default_en.htm
‘The mayor of the second largest
city in Calvados is going to remove the wi-fi network from local schools.’
HEROUVILLE-SAINT-CLAIR (AFP) 27/4/2009
The
town council of Hérouville-Saint-Clair (Calvados-Normandy) is going to remove
the wi-fi network (wireless Internet) in its schools before the end of the
year, it announced on Monday, four days after the launch of the "Radiation
Round Table" in Paris.
"We
are going to apply the precautionary principle. Our job is to protect people's
health," declared the mayor Rodolphe Thomas during a press conference.
In
this new town of 24,000 inhabitants situated on the outskirts of Caen, the
wi-fi network has provided local schools with a wireless connection to the
Internet, via the town hall. The dozen sites concerned will now have independent
Internet access.
In
addition the Council are going to finance ten or more measurements of
electromagnetic fields in the town, at a total cost of 4-5000 euros, added
Laurent Mata, chief deputy mayor in charge of sustainable development.
The
intention is to change or relocate certain antennas if the radiation is too
intense. "We'll take them to court" if the phone companies refuse to
do this, affirmed M. Mata.
In
September Hérouville Saint-Clair is going to launch a campaign about the
precautions to take to protect oneself from radiation, aimed at the general
public, the telecom operators and the landlords "who receive 1500-2500
euros per month for the rent of the roof where the relay antenna is
installed", according to M. Mata. He estimates that overall these plans
will cost the town 15,000 euros.
Criirem
(Centre for research and independent information on electromagnetic radiation),
which claims to be the only independent organisation taking measurements of electromagnetic
fields, has indicated that about 20 town and city councils in France have asked
them to carry out assessments of this kind.
http://www.next-up.org/pdf/The_mayor_Herouville_Saint_Clair_Calvados_France_remove_wifi_schools_28_04_2009.pdf
‘Child cancer deaths led by brain
tumours’
Caroline
Davies, Observer, 26/4/09
Brain
tumours are the leading cause of childhood cancer deaths in Britain, with half
as many more children dying from the illness as from leukaemia. Figures from
the Office of National Statistics show that in 2007 there were 47% more deaths
from brain tumours among under-15s than from leukaemia. Yet that is not
reflected in the money spent on research, say campaigners.
This
week sees the launch of Brain Tumour Research, a national coalition of 14
charities, which believe that research is "woefully underfunded". It
is backed by celebrities including the actress Sheila Hancock, whose grandson
survived a tumour, and actor Martin Kemp and opera singer Russell Watson, who
were both treated successfully.
Hancock,
76, the widow of actor John Thaw, saw her grandson Jack diagnosed with a rare
tumour aged four. "It is terrible to watch a grandchild go through the
diagnosis and treatment of a brain tumour. You feel so helpless." Jack was
successfully operated on.
Kevin
O'Neill, a consultant neurosurgeon at Imperial College London, said:
"Brain tumours are on the increase, reportedly in the region of 2% per
year. But in my unit we have seen the number of cases nearly double in the last
year."
http://www.guardian.co.uk:80/science/2009/apr/26/brain-tumour-child-cancer-deaths
Comment from Peter Limbrick:
There is obviously great
cause for concern about wi-fi laptops, cordless phones, baby alarms and mobile
phone technology in the home, school and workplace. In the absence of any
concern by UK government (or England’s Children’s Commissioner) we will all
have to do what we can to protect our children as much as we can. Obvious steps
for parents, teachers and school governers are:
§
Remove wi-fi technology from schools,
nurseries and children’s centres – to protect both children and staff
§
Make homes wi-fi free
§
Kick up a stink about mobile phone masts near
schools and houses
§
Try to persuade UK children’s organisations to
add their weight to the campaign. This is not an easy task if they are funded
by clever mobile phone companies - but one of them might break ranks and decide
to try to protect children in this way
Need more information?
Contact p.limbrick@virgin.net
To ask the Children’s
Commissioner for his opinion, e-mail: info.request@11MILLION.org.uk |
