Wifi Worries.

[Jill9999]

Hi guys,

Just wanted some feedback/feelings from other ladies in a similar position, I've got a one year old boy and am becoming increasingly concerned about wifi around him and my iphone, I have some friends with older children who have got their own tablets and are hooked up to the house wifi all the time, but some things that my husbands friends have been hinting at recently have really worried me (one of them works in the wireless industry) so I started googling and found this study and web page:

generationzapped.com/trailer/

stopsmartmeters.org.uk/9th-grade-student-cress-wifi-experiment-attracts-international-attention/

My husbands friend used the tobacco industry as an analogy, apparently smoking used to been seen as healthy, doctors recommending it to people!!! Fact! It was a huge industry making billions (much bigger than it is now) the manufacturers suppressed studies that showed it was bad for health for ages until they couldn't hide it anymore but by then the health of many had been ruined beyond repair.

Wireless is a new technology, the industry makes trillions and apparently studies into the bad effects are being kept quiet, I love my iphone, would have it surgically implanted into my right hand if I could, but I waited so long for Charlie I just don't want to take any risks with him, am I being paranoid or healthily cautious? (first post so be kind )

@PhaedraIsMyName Mind you I used to think if you had an electric socket where the switch was on but nothing was plugged in it leaked electricity (it doesn't does it?) - You're safe with the plug sockets I think that's something we can all agree on, but thank you that made me smile!

Yes, wifi was a small worry at the back of my mind - I haven't learned much about science since gcse 25 years ago. I think some of the explanations on this thread have been great, and I have to say I'm not really worried at all now.

I think living in a built up environment surrounded by electrical signals rather than trees is something we are still adapting to - but the benefits of this kind of modern technology outweigh the risks.

By the way, I do agree that too much screen time is not a good thing for children, and can exacerbate problems for children with adhd (which is not a new condition by any means!) But that is not an issue with the technology itself, more with the format of the stuff they are watching. It's so fast and addictive and not interactive in the way that real interpersonal relationships are.

Jill, I hope you are feeling just a bit reassured by this thread (the science I mean, not the comments about your level of education etc. )

I am struck by the contrast between MNers who've spent ages explaining, linking to the actual scientific research and urging the OP to look at proper unbiased research, and the OP's insistence on ignoring all that and linking to material that is filtered (distorted) by people with a massive agenda - the Daily Mail, crackpots who want to sell you something to protect you from the awful dangerous wifi and so on.

OP, do you not see the imbalance here? Why do you want so much to believe someone who wants to sell you a tinfoil hat rather than hundreds of objective researchers?

I suppose if one is prone to these kinds of fears, it's reassuring to latch on to one particular risk that seemingly can be controlled.

Oh yes, I've done it myself (and am, incidentally, rather prone to anxiety and depression). The big improvement for mein recent years has been recognising that's what I'm doing - which seems to help me calm down and assess the risk more objectively.

I do feel for you, OP, but I think you'd feel massively better if you could do similar. I have a dear friend who had multiple miscarriages before her adored PFB arrived, and then was tortured by intrusive thoughts about dropping him or hurting him accidentally. Once she realised she was doing it to focus her enormous anxiety about losing him on to something 'small' the thoughts receded.

@Needasilverlining It's really not the end of my world if I decide to protect my child from Wireless, we can still have internet, wires are better anyway, they're faster, more energy efficient and more secure, I'll let Charlie have a mobile when he's of a reasonable age but only for texting not calls, it's crazy the way that people keep calling me paranoid, I'm just lessening the chances that Charlie might get harmed by this technology, and as many of the sciency people have already told me on this forum, nothing is 100% certain, so although they have studies and I have studies, there's still an element of chance!

Jill you're also lessening the chance that he will benefit both through the intended if vague benefits of being more connected, but also any coincidental and unexpected ones - Maybe wifi signals will be good for us, lessen the risk of depression, stave off the onset of dementia, etc. Not every side effect is bad.

and as many of the sciency people have already told me on this forum, nothing is 100% certain

Absolutely. So as there isn't a 100% certainty that the paint on your son's bedroom walls is safe, you'd better scrape it off. The same goes for the carpet so you'd better pull that up. And don't feed him any new foods in case he has an allergic reaction.

Even worse for you are the proven and measurable risks of:

• sun exposure (so better keep in indoors to avoid skin cancer),
• car accidents (don't even think about driving him anywhere),
• playground accidents (not that you'd take him to the playground, what with the risk of skin cancer)
• house fires (I trust you live in a concrete house with no flammable materials),
• Aircraft crashing into your home (better make that a concrete bunker)
• Radiation from isotopes included in concrete aggregate (...bugger)

Still, glad to see you're keeping a sense of proportion.

BoomBoomsCousin@ Who knows there may be some good effects in there, I know it speeds up brain activity, that can be useful sometimes...

HowardTJMoon@ Good to see you back Howard, thought I'd lost you, scroll back a bit I asked you a question...

Correct me if I'm wrong and I'm only going on the houses that I've lived in and visited, (I have no idea what you live in) but haven't wall paint and carpets been around for a really really long time, and therefore any ill effects would have come to light by now? Don't worry about my diet either, only fresh food in this house, none of that precessed rubbish (oh know what have I said, am I going to get abuse for not eating processed food???) The other stuff was hilarious obvs!

I don't think you do have your own reputable, not out-of-date studies, OP.

Obsolete ones, yes. Scaremongering headlines, yes. Distortions and Stuff I Reckon from the ill-informed, venal and irresponsible, yes.

I note also that your tone has changed from Worried Mum to Gleeful Goady F*er.

If you're for real, try not to spend too much money on tinfoilhats4u.com because your DS might well need the cash for therapy in years to come.

@Needasilverlining It's sink or swim in this forum, "worried Mum" showed too much vulnerability, I had to toughen up preddy quick!

Which of these 34 studies are the most obsolete, most scaremongering and most distorted?

www.wakingtimes.com/2013/10/30/34-scientific-studies-showing-adverse-health-effects-wi-fi/

"Look how willfully ignorant I can be!" cries the OP.

"That's marvellous" we say as one would say to a child proudly presenting a full potty.

@nauticant Whoa did that come from??? I feel completely belittled...

Given that the site witters on about expanding consciousness and is funded by its advertisers, I'm afraid I am going to decline to spend any more of my one and only life wading through unscientific interweb horseshit.

Not least because I could go through each one with a fine toothcomb and point out every single flaw and error and you would listen Not At All.

You do not wish to be confused with facts because your mind is made up. Fine.

When you genuinely sounded worried and in need of reassurance lots of people tried to help, but at the moment you sound like those anti-gay bigots that spout on about it being banned in Leviticus but clearly haven't READ Leviticus, as evidenced by their surprise when you ask them about wearing mixed fibres.

@Needasilverlining I've read everything you've posted, by refusing you sound like more of a bigot than I do.

What question was that? The one where you asked how Ben Goldacre's comments demonstrated the Panorama programme to be bad science? I thought I answered that one? I mean, I know you completely ignored my answer but I did answer it...

Regarding those 34 studies you have mentioned several times now, which of them do you think makes the strongest case that WiFi signals present a risk to human health? I don't have the time or inclination to read all 34 in depth but I would like to read the one that you think is the most persuasive.

@HowardTJMoon The question posted on Wed 04-Jun-14 00:43:33, it's ok I know these forums are difficult to negotiate.

You're right, refusing to accept Stuff People Reckon over actual properly conducted, unbiased science is the very essence of bigotry.

Go on, shamed by Howard's generosity I'll read one too. Which one did you think was most convincing?

(Does anyone want to bet me a wifi router that OP hasn't actually read them either - just the woo summary before bringing the link back to Mumsnet like a dog with a dead rat?)

OP - we had an EMF survey done recently & we are worried about EMF in general. But instead of sweating the small stuff we are implementing the big ticket items. One key rule is that we switch off wifi & all other appliances (as much as possible) & have nothing 'switched on' including mobile phones - at bedtime. This is the time the body recovers from damage & hence lowering EMF maximises the benefits at this time. We have eliminated cordless phones from our house.Other than that my DD is not allowed to touch our phones or iPad unless they are in 'airplane' mode. Also keeping a 3 metre distance when using the microwave. Put together this shields DD (and us) significantly though not completely.

I wouldn't like a school if it were fitted with wifi boosters all over. It's the base unit /booster which is a bigger problem while receiving equipment is the smaller problem.

If you are worried you can have an EMF survey done & understand this better.

I do have to say you have chosen to ignore the few voices that agree with me, almost like they don't exist, what's up with that hey?

Oh right. Well I only noticed one or two other posts that had anything that could be construed as supporting your claims but without adding anything substantive so I thought by specifically addressing what you have claimed I'd be covering their stuff as well. If I've missed anything amazing then apologies to whoever it is who may feel I've slighted them. But this is, after all, a thread that you started.

So which of those 34 scientific papers you have pointed to is, in your view, the most compelling? I know from experience that a sound literature review takes a while and regrettably I do have other demands on my time so I'd like to focus on whichever one you found the most persuasive.

It's the base unit /booster which is a bigger problem while receiving equipment is the smaller problem.

What's the difference?

A 3m distance from the microwave? So you put the microwave on and then what, hightail it out of the kitchen and hide until it pings?

I read one back when jil first posted that link. it was about the effects of EMF on drosophila, not humans.

do you know what drosophila are jil?

personally I'm not really bothered about what EMF does to flies.

forago I genuinely giggled at that.