To worry a bit about wi-fi radiation

[jinglebelly]

I've just read an article in one of those free family listings magazines about wi-fi and mobile phones and how they give off dangerous levels of radiation, DH says I'm being ridiculous but I can't help being a bit worried... I work on my computer and often hold my baby while working.. AIBU to be worried?!

Then I'm not sure you and winterofdiscontent really disagree do you? Possibly the bone of contention here is the meaning of the word "contaminate".

Exactly. Contaminated carries certain implications, don't you think?

So when you think about it, I am in fact correct.

But a small level of radiation does contaminate. It's the levels of contamination that is the issue.

Hence SO much testing after chernobyl, of ALL the areas that were under the 'cloud'.

and did you read his actual post and the implication of it?

Which post?

never mind. I must be in a parallel universe where words don't have real meanings. P'raps I'm too tired for this.

Again, which post?

back to the original op topic.. Jareth- does your dad know anything about WiFi or mobile waves being harmful? to children?

Bit past his time in service tbh, but I will ask him (he retired 8 years ago)

From my own experience, I don't understand why people don't want mobile phone masts in their area. If there's a mast near to you then your phone uses less power to connect to it. If you're making a call and you're 20 miles away from the nearest mast, then a lot more radiation will be going through you skull than if you were 2 miles away, because it needs a stronger signal to connect. I've read that children are more susceptable because the bones around their ears are thinner and less dense, so if the radiation from mobile phones IS harmful, it's likely that it's more harmful for children.

Wifi- I have no idea. Few people are concerned about radio's, or microwaves but I have no knowledge on this particular subject. I will ask my Dad and my colleagues and try to find out.

god, I feel like such a shit mother now, im always using the internet on my mobile while nursing dd. ok, gonna stop that NOW.

Chillichill - THINK before you do anything. THINK about the evidence, and the existance of it. Is there any evidence fopr wi-fi damaging abies? No? then you;re panicking because.....?

There have been a few studies that suggest there might be a link between heavy mobile phone use and certain health issues. There have also been a lot of studies that have found no such effects.

There have been some tests of the effects of mobile phone energy on individual cells in test tubes and some of those effects have been worrying, but the energy levels in such tests tend to be far in excess of what you are likely to experience in the real world.

WiFi runs at about a tenth or less the power of mobile phones. Plus the usage of wifi is different from mobile phones. A mobile phone is usually held very close to your head in use. A laptop with wifi is generally held further away from your head and trunk (and distance makes a big difference to absorbed energy) plus, as previously noted, it's at a lot lower energy levels anyway.

This area is unfortunately also subject to serious obfuscation and massive scare-mongering by certain groups who believe themselves to be particularly susceptible to everyday electrical fields or are selling very expensive "filters" and other products to protect you from such fields.

Be aware that nobody claiming such susceptibility has ever been able to prove that they really are able to sense such fields. Instead, all the evidence suggests that they're suffering from psychosomatic illnesses.

I have been slightly diverted by the reference to "living in Cornwall"

Can you explain that Jareth?

Cornwall has higher background radiation levels than the rest of the UK - Radon gas in the ground or something (a quick google will enlighten I'm sure)

Funnily enough, bananas are also radioactive.

Not that that has anything to do with wi-fi/mobile phone radiation, which is of a totally different sort (non-ionizing)

I think Jareth is refering to in some parts of cornwall they have a high exposure to Radon Gas which is a mildly radioactive gas. have a google

Here we go

UK Radon map map

Banana equivalent dose

bananas

Thanks - so pretending to use a banana as a mobile phone while in Cornwall would be a bad plan

Yep, I was referring to radon in Cornwall, and comparing the level of background level of radiation there to the possible increase in radiation from anything from Japan.

rofl @ oxeye

..and comparing the background level of radiation... etc

ignore tired typos.

YANBU I'm a scientist and the level of EM radiation in my house from phones and wireless etc has also been worrying me recently particularly the effect it might be having on my DC. I was thinking of bringing a meter home to check it out.

Am not convinced by the "no evidence" argument. There is some pretty irrefutable evidence for cancer clusters around pylons now (my mum lives near one and has recently been contacted by a no-win no-fee company saying she can claim thousands of pounds compensation!) but it took a long time for it to be accepted. Also what larks did people have with X-ray radiography when they first discovered it? Or with cigarettes?

We simply do not know what the long term effects of it are going to be yet. I switch everything off at the plug when not in use (including the wireless broadband) and I dont leave my mobile on the bedside table. But how you stop it coming in from outside I do not know.

What kind of scientist are you?