I would like to applaud Donna Nilsson for questioning the decision taken by her school board to install Wi-Fi systems in all of its elementary schools, ‘Parent sounds alarm about Wi-Fi,’ March 19 Gazette.
This decision to install a wireless network has potentially very serious long-term negative health effects for the children in these schools. I understand that many school districts look to Health Canada’s Radiofrequency Exposure Guidelines (Safety Code 6) as an authoritative source on the safety of Wi-Fi microwave radiation. It would seem reasonable that they do this.
However, these guidelines are inadequate and somewhat outdated. The guidelines do offer protection against thermal effects of microwave radiation, but do not consider the biological effects that might come from long-term low levels of exposure. A 1999 study by the Royal Society of Canada, commissioned by Health Canada, states that “children, pregnant women or the elderly are more susceptible to various environmental health hazards.” The study goes on to state that, “There are documented biological effects of RF fields even at low, non-thermal exposure levels, below Safety Code 6 exposure limits.”
This, along with the fact that there are many gaps in existing research on the topic, should be considered when making a decision to implement Wi-Fi in a school. Such a decision would expose children to “low levels” of microwave radiation for about six hours per day, 200 days per year for 12-plus years.
I write this not to point blame at school boards, industry or the government. Rather, it is to emphasize that we have the choice to recognize or ignore the potential dangers associated with these relatively new technologies and to remind us that we have to decide as a society whether we want to experiment with our children’s health or play it safe.
Dr. Victor Bilodeau, Edmonton
