The results of a survey released this week by the St. Albert Protestant School Board show radiation emissions from wireless equipment in schools is well below the safe standard established by Health Canada.
Tests done by Aruba Networks of Edmonton show the radio frequency levels from wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) systems in place at Bellerose, Wildrose, Leo Nickerson and Elmer S. Gish schools was less than one per cent of the safe limit established by Health Canada. The board investigated the matter after a parent complaint earlier this year.
“The readings show that the emissions are well below one per cent of what is considered to be safe. We believe they are safe and this reassured me that they are safe,” said St. Albert Protestant School Board chair Joan Trettler.
The average measurement recorded was 0.04 per cent of the levels allowed by the federal government. The highest measurement observed was 0.12 per cent of the regulations and that level was found at both E.S. Gish and at Leo Nickerson schools.
Wi-Fi systems provide students and teachers with easier access to the Internet and makes computer use more flexible. Rather than having to set aside one computer room, with cabled hook-ups to each computer in the classroom, the Wi-Fi system, which uses a wireless connection, means every student can have a computer at every desk.
Sample locations were determined at random and measurements were taken at six different locations in each school, including standing directly under a Wi-Fi access point. The 0.12 per cent high was recorded in the hallways of the two elementary schools, which provided Wi-Fi access to several classrooms at once.
