Wifi health fears remain unfounded

The ongoing debate about whether or not wireless technologies pose any risk to health looks set to receive further fuel Monday, as BBC1 programme, Panorama, airs an investigation.

The programme found that radiation levels emitted by wifi installations at one UK school were three times the level of radiation emitted by a mobile phone mast. However, the readings still came in a good 600 times below the safety limits set by the government.

Panorama rounded up a number of academics, including representatives of the University of Nottingham and the Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research (MTHR) initiative, as well as an expert on medical physics, who go on the record saying that wifi seems unlikely to pose any risk to health.

According to the programme, over the last 18 months 2 million more UK residents have begun using wifi, while 70 per cent of secondary schools and 50 per cent of primary schools also use the technology.

The report also features scientists from Austria and Sweden who are continuing to debate the safety of wifi. But this is despite the fact that the World Health Organisation has claimed that there are “no adverse health effects from low level, long-term exposure”.

The Panorama programme, “Wi-fi: a warning signal,” will be broadcast on Monday at 8.30pm on BBC1.