Feeling Unplugged over Wireless Health Issues?

Ok now I am confused…

Reading CKNX online this morning, normally a great news source for mid-western Ontario, and I see an item about a meeting last night in Thornbury (and several more in the area in the next few days) relating to the dangers of wireless computers in classrooms.

Hmm… not that is odd… Normally (and anyone who knows me at all knows I am almost OCD in this regard) I see lots of mentions in my online research about technology and health issues, but this one sort of ran under the radar (pardon the pun).

I suppose that it is because of all the hoopla a couple years back about how cellphones could fry your brain ('this is your brain, this is your brain on cellphone' sort of thing). Or maybe it is the volume of 'bad news' bombarding us on a daily basis. Or maybe it is an issue that academia has researched to death (research grant money in this area is probably a growth market), and found wanting. I am not quite sure.

So it is off to Google I go (after sending one of those feedback forms to CKNX to see if they have any more information…) in search of more information on this 'dreaded hazard'.

Now before I tell you what I found perhaps a little perspective is needed.

I love this area! Five minutes out of Teeswater and I am surrounded by some of the most beautiful landscape Canada has to offer. Fields of corn, oats and wheat waving in the wind. Brightly painted barns, contented cows and gamboling lambs are everywhere. And even if i grumble when I have to slow down for a Mennonite buggy I marvel at how they co-exist with the rest of us zooming down Highway 4 at 110 Km/h (well at least the minivans in this area are going that speed!).

But… Teeswater is also within 50 miles of a nuclear plant, the chemicals farmers in this area have to use on their farms are in general highly toxic, water supplies and beaches can become suspect in this hot weather and a bazillion cars / minivans / trucks / buses / transports are pumping tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. That is the reality and while none of us like all the pollution in the air and water, we understand that cleaning up our environment and producing a healthier place to live for our children and grandchildren will be a slow process that will need all of us onboard to achieve!

But can we afford to cherry-pick and choose which causes we climb on the soap box for, while turning a blind eye to others?

This part is probably going to annoy some folks, but what is the huge deal over wind turbines? I understand that there are a lot of irate people (or so we are lead to believe…) complaining of rampant headaches and other health issues, and yet many live in the same conditions I described above? All this at a time when the University of Toronto has developed technology that will eliminate blade tip vibrations (the apparent cause of the problems) and Honeywell has developed new turbine technologies without central shafts that would eliminate the rest of the vibration issues. All this in a time when we HAVE to find alternative energy sources!

But I digress so back to the issue at hand – wireless technology and the health hazards associated. Here's what I found:

• 'Environmental Health Advocacy League' is mighty hard to find unless you tack 'Susan Clarke' in front of it. That surprised me given that it was reported that this league is a 'U.S. agency'. Agencies by the way are generally U.S. government departments and NOT leagues of concerned citizens.
• A broad consensus of opinion on the hazards of wireless technology is even more difficult to find. That was odd considering that the news release from Environmental Health Advocacy League indicates 6000 supporting studies.
• I did find quite a number of health studies on cellphone towers.
• I did find a dissenting opinion though on the BBC website.
• I did find a study from the University of Florida that found that while wireless technology did heat up the brains of laboratory mice, the higher temperature actually protected them from the onset of Alzheimers.
• EMF levels for WiFi  devices are much lower than mobile phones, and there is less public concern about any suggested health issues for wireless LAN devices. Most wireless LAN equipment is designed to work within predefined standards. Wireless access points are also often in close proximity to humans, but the drop off in the already low power over distance is fast, following the inverse-square law. WiFi has been anecdotally linked to electromagnetic hypersensitivity (Wikipedia).
• The British Health Protection Agency's (HPA) position is that “…radio frequency (RF) exposures from WiFi are likely to be lower than those from mobile phones.” It also saw “…no reason why schools and others should not use WiFi equipment.” In October 2007, the HPA launched a new “systematic” study into the effects of WiFi networks on behalf of the UK government, in order to calm fears that had appeared in the media in a recent period up to that time". Dr Michael Clark, of the HPA, says published research on mobile phones and masts does not add up to an indictment of WiFi.

So what is the deal here? Hopefully Ms. Clarke or someone from the organizing committee will email me with some links to enlightening information.

But I do have a couple questions for the three parents who started the entire ball rolling, especially the mother who is keeping her child home:

• Do you have wireless in your home?
• Did you get rid of your microwave oven?
• Did you get rid of your cordless telephone?
• How about the remote for the TV and the garage door opener?
• Have you grounded each heat register in the house (negative ions et al)?
• Have you lobbied Wightmans / Bruce Telecom / Rogers / Telus et al to remove the cellphone towers from your neighbourhood and the route you drive to school?
• Have you lobbied the school bus company to install gas masks for the kids who get a fresh puff of carbon monoxide every time the bus pulls up?

See what I mean? There is no doubt we need to educate ourselves about the FACTS behind health and environment issues. It is critical for our and our children's welfare. In this case I am left without any corroborating information from sources I normally trust. Now I am quite certain that this group will send me a plethora of information but will I be educated?

And if after 30 plus years in technology (including 15 years with Environment Canada) I am confused, I can only imagine how others feel…