Remember when microwave ovens caused cancer? Maybe that’s
before your time; but what about when power
lines and electric blankets caused cancer and computer
terminals caused miscarriages and birth defects? Then, of course,
cell phones caused brain tumors. And now, predictably
enough, WiFi signals that allow laptop computers to wirelessly
connect to a single outlet have also become suspect.
But all of these scares have two things in common. First, they
involve invisible electromagnetic frequency (EMF) transmissions,
something many of us find to be spooky — like invisible creatures
in movies. Second, they’re all bogus. These fright fests have
caused tremendous needless angst and economic loss.
WiFi (short for “wireless fidelity,” a radio frequency) is used
in many ways. It’s ubiquitous in coffee shops, and is used in homes
like mine to remotely connect several computers. But whole
municipalities, with Philadelphia the biggest and probably soon to be
followed by San Francisco, have begun blanketing the entire area
with transmitters. Anybody there will be able to just boot up and
check e-mail or surf the Net.
But that’s where the problem lies — or so say some of our
northern neighbors. And don’t snicker at the Canadians, for
hysteria is contagious and, like those bitter cold fronts in
winter, this one may come sweeping down upon us.
No sooner had Toronto Hydro Telecom announced plans in March to
convert Canada’s largest city into a giant hotspot by the end of
the year, giving broadband users another method of accessing the
Internet (for a fee), when cries of doom arose. “Why should we all
become guinea pigs?” a letter to the Toronto Star
demanded.
David Fancy, head of the SWEEP
Initiative (Safe Wireless Electrical and Electromagnetic
Policies), agrees. “I have never seen any actual peer-reviewed
science, epidemiological studies done with human subjects over an
extensive period of time, that suggests this is actually safe,” he
told Toronto’s Metro News.
That could be because Fancy is a dramatic arts professor, and
thus may know lots about drama (and melodrama), but little about
science and EMF. Those who do understand it will tell you
otherwise.
“Health Canada [their FDA and EPA combined] has assessed the
ability of radio frequency fields to cause DNA damage and effect
gene expression in human-derived brain cell cultures in four
studies since 2000,” says spokesman Paul Duchesne. “No negative
effect was seen.” He adds, “From all the studies we’ve seen,
including those of the World Health Organization, nothing negative
has been scientifically proven.”
It seems the prime fount of the Toronto fear may be another
ersatz EMF expert, President Fred Gilbert of Lakehead University in
Ontario’s Thunder Bay. Gilbert’s expertise is in zoology. Over the
protests of his students he has refused to allow
campus-wide WiFi coverage, telling IT Business Canada that “While the
jury’s out on this one, I’m not going to put in place what is
potential chronic exposure for our students.”
So “chronic exposure” is inherently suspect, as in chronic
exposure to oxygen or to nutrition.
Gilbert said his decision was based on a series of studies done for the California
Department of Health Services and California Public Utilities
Commission, examining EMF such as that generated by power lines or
building wiring. But none of these studies found conclusive links
to cancer as Gilbert fears.
Rather a “key” source of Gilbert’s information is Sage EMF Design of Santa Barbara. Far from being an
unbiased source, Sage generates lucre by detecting and then
remediating “harmful” electromagnetic exposures. Sage has written
and self-published a book to spook people into (Surprise!) using
her service.
In short, Gilbert is relying on hucksters. Sage is not about to
tell him that WiFi is really just a radio signal.
Remember those big wooden cathedral-like boxes that used to pump
out Benny Goodman and Guy Lombardo? Me neither; before my
time. But that’s what we’re talking about: garage door openers,
cordless phones, baby monitors. If Benny Goodman didn’t hurt your
parents, WiFi won’t hurt you.
Still, one Toronto writer made an
interesting suggestion. “If the health officials [go along with
the fears] they will have to order the switching off of all radios,
mobile phones, garage doors, microwave transmitters, ground all
aircraft and return Toronto to the Middle Ages.”
Neat! We could have a giant outdoor medieval museum just north
of our border! But those obstinate Canucks will probably refuse to
go along.
