Wi-Fi Networks Perfectly Safe for Children

August 27, 2010

Media Release - For Immediate Release

Wi-Fi Networks Perfectly Safe for Children

Toronto, ON (Aug 26 2010) – The Committee for the Advancement of Scientific Skepticism at the Centre for Inquiry warns parents this week not to buy into the hype surrounding the supposed health effects of wireless networks. There is no evidence to suggest that children are even suffering an illness, let alone that Wi-Fi is the cause of it.

Scientists and skeptics from across Canada and the US have come out against this push to remove wireless networks from schools due to the complete lack of evidence.   Mitchell Gerskup of CASS sums up the chorus from scientists, "The experts point out that a typical Wi-Fi network would result in less than 1% of the exposure resulting from cell phone use, and that extensive studies have shown no risk from cell phones -- even for adults with more than a decade of constant exposure."

Dr. Lorne Trottier, an engineer who runs the Canadian website http://www. emfandhealth .com and who is a CASS science adviser, puts even a finer point on it, "the overwhelming preponderance of evidence and the overwhelming consensus from mainstream science is that there is no harm from EMF based on existing safety guidelines."

CASS respects the fears of parents, and they are easy to understand. However, the fears about Wi-Fi in the classroom are misplaced and the stress caused by this worry is far greater than any ill effect of wireless communications. The low power of the microwaves and their non-ionizing nature (meaning they cannot cause damage at the molecular level) does not pose even a theoretical risk. "Its like the light from a flashlight," says Behzad Elahi, an MD studying neurology at the University of Toronto, "the radiation is the same nature as visible light, it would take a beam over ten times as strong to cause a sunburn, and that would be standing on top of it."

CASS recommends that parents and teachers remain informed and follow the evidence. Where there is no evidence of harm, we should remain skeptical, in order to prevent spreading needless fears about a useful educational tool.
 

CASS is a national, fast response team which critically engages with scientific, technological and medical claims made in public discourse. We address factual inaccuracies and misinformation in public debates by promoting evidence-based science. CASS is a project of the Centre for Inquiry, the leading freethought organization in Canada promoting reason, science, secularism and freedom of inquiry.

For More Information Contact:

Michael Kruse, Co-Chair and Spokesperson

Committee for the Advancement of Scientific Skepticism

(416) 737-4960

mkrusecass@gmail.com