Nothing to Fear From Wi-Fi Radiation

Fearing that low-level radiation could have damaging health effects, William Stewart, chairman of the UK's Health Protection Agency, wants a safety review of wi-fi signals.

However, while wi-fi transmitters do emit more radiation than cell phone towers, cell phones handsets emit far more: a person absorbs less radiation from sitting in a wi-fi hotspot for a year, says the HPA, than from a 20-minute cell phone call. (Note: I'm not making a claim about the dangers or lack thereof of cell phone radiation -- it's just a relative comparison.)

Medical physics expert Professor Malcolm Sperrin told BBC News that the fact wi-fi radiation in a particular school was three times higher than a mobile phone mast was irrelevant, unless there was any evidence of a link to health effects.

"Wi-fi is a technique using very low intensity radio waves. Whilst similar in wavelength to domestic microwave radiation, the intensity of wi-fi radiation is 100,000 times less than that of a domestic microwave oven.

"Furthermore, tissue can only be effectively heated by a wavelength that is closely matched to the absorption, and there are strict guidelines for ensuring such absorption peaks are avoided."

Wi-fi health fears are 'unproven' [BBC]

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