July 2018

Don't forget to look at the Wireless Risk Assessment for Schools and Other Workplaces, plus the 'Relevant Documents' for risk assessment.  Please pass on to schools.

Report on 'not so smart' Smart meters from the British Infrastructure Group fails to mention that the wireless signals emitted from 'smart' meters are a possible human carcinogen and that similar radiofrequency signals have been reported to have adverse health effects in a large number of scientific studies, including damage to fertility, foetal development, brain development and increased cell death.  Possible adverse health effects ought to be mentioned in all 'smart' meter adverts.

Study (Foerster et al 2018 Environmental Health Perspectives) confirms adverse effects of mobile phone use on figural memory in adolescents, supporting the 2015 study by Schoeni et al. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26474271).

Video showing Wi-Fi in a car altering the electrical brain activity of the driver (vimeo). 

'The Inconvenient truth about cancer and mobile phones' (The Guardian).

June 2018

'As more countries ban iPads and mobile phones from the classroom, could wifi be giving our children cancer?' By Geoffrey Lean, The Daily Mail.

A new Website: www.wirelessriskassessment.org provides an example risk assessment for wireless technologies, as used in schools and other workplaces.  The Department for Education has said that all schools are expected to carry out a risk assessment for technologies before they are introduced and used.  Please pass the Risk Assessment and documents from the 'Relevant Documents' page (on http://wirelessriskassessment.org) to schools.  Actions are needed to reduce exposures to hazards in the workplace.

Ofsted supports a ban on mobile phones in UK schools, as France introduces a law to ban mobile phone use by pupils in French schools (The Guardian). 

Dr Martin Blank, professor of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics at Columbia University, NIHS researcher, and author of the book 'Overpowered' has passed away at the age of 85.  He was a leading expert in the field of electromagnetic radiation and a strong advocate for precaution and stronger regulation of wireless technologies.  He will be greatly missed.  His obituary can be found here.

January 2018

California's mobile phone safety guidance: 2017 vs 2009, by Dr Joel Moskowitz. The 2017 guidance leaflet from the California Department of Public Health on how to reduce your exposure to radiofrequency energy from mobile phones can be found here.

December 2017

France will ban mobile phones in schools from September 2018.  Donald Macleod calls for the ban to be introduced into Scottish schools in an article in the Sunday Post; articles in the Telegraph, Guardian, Independent and The Local (Fr).    

California to set guidelines limiting mobile phone radiation exposure. CBS News.

Toxic Technology. Education leaders spend vast sums on technology, but with studies linking over-use of technology with clinical disorders, is it money well spent? Article by Mark Langhammer, Director of the National Education Union, Northern Ireland.   

November 2017

Nicosia declaration on Electromagnetic fields/radiofrequencies, November 2017.  A common position paper by The Cyprus Medical Association, The Vienna/Austrian Medical Chambers and The Cyprus National Committee on Environment and Children's Health.  "Exposure at home and schools can and must be reduced by minimizing the use of mobile phones and wireless devices. By applying safer technologies, such as wired (Ethernet) connection to internet or optical fibres instead of Wi-Fi, there will be no loss of comfort. Schools should avoid Wi-Fi." "All children and in particular those with existing neurological or behavioural problems as well as those with chronic diseases must be provided with wired (not wireless) learning, living and sleeping environments."   

Measurements of Radiofrequency Radiation with a Body-Borne Exposimeter in Swedish Schools with Wi-Fi. Hedendahl L. et al 2017, Frontiers in Public Health https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2017.00279. "Wired connection for both the Internet and telephone communications should be preferred to minimize children’s exposure to the wireless radiation."

October 2017

The film Generation Zapped has now been released and is available for screenings. View the trailer here.

Poster on 5G radiation exposure by Shelley Masters.

September 2017

Scientist 5G Appeal Scientists call for a halt to 5G until the potential hazards for human health and the environment have been fully investigated by scientists independent of industry.  They urge the European Union to:


1) To take all reasonable measures to halt the 5G RF-EMF expansion until independent scientists can assure that 5G and the total radiation levels caused by RF-EMF (5G together with 2G, 3G, 4G, and WiFi) will not be harmful for EU-citizens, especially infants, children and pregnant women, as well as the environment.
2) To recommend that all EU countries, especially their radiation safety agencies, follow Resolution 1815 and inform citizens, including, teachers and physicians, about health risks from RF-EMF radiation, how and why to avoid wireless communication, particularly in/near e.g., day care centres, schools, homes, workplaces, hospitals and elderly care.
3) To appoint immediately, without industry influence, an EU task force of independent, truly impartial EMF-and-health scientists with no conflicts of interest to re-evaluate the health risks and:
a) To decide about new, safe “maximum total exposure standards” for all wireless communication within EU.
b) To study the total and cumulative exposure affecting EU-citizens.
c) To create rules that will be prescribed/enforced within the EU about how to avoid exposure exceeding new EU ”maximum total exposure standards” concerning all kinds of EMFs in order to protect citizens, especially infants, children and pregnant women.
4) To prevent the wireless/telecom industry through its lobbying organizations from persuading EU-officials to make decisions about further propagation of RF radiation including 5G in Europe.
5) To favour and implement wired digital telecommunication instead of wireless. 

August 2017

5G Wireless Technology: Millimeter wave health effects.

June 2017

Phonegate: radiation exceeding regulatory limits. French Government data indicates cell phones expose consumers to radiation levels higher than manufacturers claim.  When tested in contact with the body, some phones have test results as high as triple the manufacturer’s previously reported radiation levels.  “As a physician, I am deeply concerned about what this means for our health and especially the health of our children. People have a right to know that when cell phones are tested in ways people commonly use phones – such as in direct contact with their body – the values exceed current regulatory limits. This is a first victory for transparency in this industry scandal,” commented French physician Dr Marc Arazi.

May 2017

'Tablets and smartphones damage toddlers' speech development', Sarah Knapton, The Telegraph: "those who spent the most time on handheld devices were found to struggle with communication skills."  

The article didn't mention that mobile phone use by pregnant women has already been associated with speech problems in children and that mobile phone use in children may be associated with hearing loss at the age of 7. Exposure to wireless signals has been associated with behavioural problems in children, including ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), poor verbal expression and comprehension, and abnormal brain development (e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10).

"In Britain children under the age of three spend an average of 44 minutes a day using smartphones and tablets." But 44 minutes a day is a long time compared to what is needed to see damaging effects. 15 minutes daily exposure of rats to a mobile phone-like signal led to substantial cell death in the ovaries. Human adults who used a mobile phone for the equivalent of 15 minutes or more per day for 10 years had significantly increased risks of cancer. 5 minutes exposure of human sperm to a mobile phone signal significantly decreased sperm motility

How long will children suffer developmental harm before parents, pre-schools and schools take action to restrict wireless exposures of developing babies, toddlers and children? Safeguarding children means protecting them from harm, even if children like what is harming them, it is making an awful lot of money for a lot of people, or Public Health England have mislead decision makers and the public about the risks.

April 2017

The article by Microwave News, 'Peer Review in the Raw', describes an example of how industry has manipulated the scientific literature on the effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields to support their 'no effect' view.  

Athens Medical Association recommends reducing electromagnetic wireless radiation to protect public health. Environmental Health Trust.

'Technology Overuse Harmful to Children', Public News Service.

Italian court finds link between cell phone use in the workplace and tumour of the auditory nerve (abc News). We need to look at safety in the workplace to ensure that employers do not require employees to use mobile or cordless phones for work, which could increase the risk of cancer. If mobile phones held next to the head increase the risk of head tumours, then tablet computers used by pupils in schools, particularly held next to the body, may also be increasing the risk of tumours near to where the computer is positioned. 

The secret inside your cell phone, video by CBC Marketplace. Wendy Mesley investigated the radiation exposures close to several models of mobile phones and found that they all exceeded allowable exposures close to the phone. Manufacturers advise that phones should be held away from the body when switched on, but almost no one knows about it. To improve safety, do not hold or carry a mobile phone next to your body (this includes pupils not carrying a phone in their blazer, shirt, skirt or trouser pockets and never holding a phone up against their head; air tube headsets can keep phones away from the head).    

February 2017

Reykjavik Appeal on wireless technology in schools, February 2017. From Children, Screen time and Wireless Radiation – International Conference, Reykjavik. 

The Kids Are Not All Right, How Wireless Tech Is Harming Our Youth And What Parents Can Do Right Now, by Alison Main, February 2017.

Video with advice from the Cyprus National Committee on Environment and Children's Health on pregnancy and the use of wireless devices. Protective measures are needed for pregnant women in the workplace.  

The 'Reviews on Environmental Health' article on Public Health England, AGNIR, ICNIRP and the WHO EMF project (December 2016) has been translated into German:   https://www.diagnose-funk.org/publikationen/artikel/detail&newsid=1163

December 2016

National and international safeguarding scandal.  Public Health England (PHE) and their Advisory Group on Non-ionising Radiation (AGNIR) have provided incorrect information about the safety of wireless technologies. An article in December's edition of 'Reviews on Environmental Health' describes how PHE and AGNIR have mislead the UK government, the public, organisations and other health protection agencies around the world regarding the safety of wireless signals.  Decisions have been made about involuntary exposures based on incorrect infor'mation; children in schools have not been protected.  The article describes a conflict of interest which needs to be addressed within PHE, AGNIR and the World Health Organisation (WHO) EMF Project.

Professor Lennart Hardell's talk at the Royal Society of Medicine on mobile phones and head tumours, November 2016.

New results from the Interphone study confirm glioma risk associated with use of mobile phones. Professor Lennart Hardell.

'Wireless pollution 'out of control' as corporate race for 5G gears up', The Ecologist, by Lynne Wycherley.  

September 2016

Expert Report by Dr Andrew Marino, PhD, submitted as part of a case being considered by the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission. Several consumers have alleged that their health is being negatively affected by 'smart' (wireless) meters.  The report describes that there is a reasonable basis in established science for the Complainants’ concern regarding risks to human health caused by man-made electromagnetic energy in the environment, including the type of electromagnetic energy emitted by smart meters.  Also, that electromagnetic hypersensitivity is a documented neurological condition in which the affected person experiences musculoskeletal, immunological, and/or neurological symptoms that noticeably flare or intensify upon exposure to man-made electromagnetic energy in the environment.  The report was initially publicised by 'Take Back Your Power'.

"Do cell phones and Wi-Fi harm our body?", interview with Dr Martin Blank, by Conan Milner, Epoch Times.    

"NTP: Cell phone RF breaks DNA", article by Microwave News, 6th September 2016. The US National Toxicology Program (NTP) results provide “strong evidence for the genotoxicity of cell phone radiation,” Ron Melnick (who led the team that designed the NTP study) told Microwave News.  

August 2016

"Screens in schools are a $60 billion hoax", Time magazine, 31st August 2016, by Dr Nicholas Kardaras. “Tech in the classroom not only leads to worse educational outcomes for kids, which I will explain shortly, it can also clinically hurt them. I’ve worked with over a thousand teens in the past 15 years and have observed that students who have been raised on a high-tech diet not only appear to struggle more with attention and focus, but also seem to suffer from an adolescent malaise that appears to be a direct byproduct of their digital immersion. Indeed, over two hundred peer-reviewed studies point to screen time correlating to increased ADHD, screen addiction, increased aggression, depression, anxiety and even psychosis.”

June 2016

Ronald Melnick, PhD (led the design of the NTP/NIEHS study; Senior Toxicologist and Director of Special Programs in the Environmental Toxicology Program at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), National Institutes of Health, USA; now retired): "In my view, a pediatrician would be acting irresponsibly if he or she knew and understood the implications of the human and animal cancer data on cell phone radiation and did not offer precautionary advice to the parents of his or her patients."  Dr Melnick corrects misinformation in the NY Times; report from Microwave News. 

NTP study: preliminary data show statistically significant trend in radiofrequency-induced DNA damage in rat and mice brain (using the comet assay), Tweets Dariusz Leszczynski from BioEM 2016 conference (European BioElectromagnetics Association).  Table of results shown here.  This supports the large number of studies already published which have demonstrated DNA damage following radiofrequency exposures.

May 2016

Report of Partial Findings from the National Toxicology Program Carcinogenesis Studies of Cell Phone Radiofrequency Radiation in Hsd: Sprague Dawley® SD rats (Whole Body Exposures).  The study found cancers, malignant gliomas in the brain and schwannomas of the heart, in rats exposed to GSM or CDMA mobile phone-like signals.  The cancers are of a type similar to tumours observed in some human epidemiology studies of cell phone use. The findings support the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) conclusions regarding the carcinogenic potential of radiofrequency radiation.  Schools exposing children and teachers to Wi-Fi radiofrequency signals every day, giving them wireless radiofrequency-emitting devices to use or letting pupils use their mobile phones at school may be putting them at increased risk of developing cancer.

Microwave News reports: Cell Phone Radiation Boosts Cancer Rates in Animals. $25 Million National Toxicology Program (NTP) Study Finds Brain Tumours. 

April 2016

Haifa, Israel, decides to remove Wi-Fi from schools. 'Haifa Mayor said that the city would replace the wireless network with a wired connection that will provide safer options to students.'

How we kill ourselves - Radiation. Video from Israel.

March 2016

2.45GHz (Wi-Fi frequency) signals during pregnancy and postnatally damage rat kidneys.  In journal 'Renal Failure', February 2016. 

'Mobile phones are 'cooking' men's sperm', reports The Telegraph. Well, no they aren't cooking them, but they are decreasing sperm motility, damaging sperm DNA, damaging male reproductive organs and decreasing testosterone via non-heating biological effects.  In fact 88% of papers (91/104 studies) published on male fertility and wireless signals (including Wi-Fi) have reported significant damage to male fertility since January 2003 (listed in 'A need for accurate Information', Appendix 2).  As well as keeping your mobile phone out of your trouser pockets, it is best not to put a wireless tablet computer or laptop on your lap either, if you don't want to damage your reproductive organs.  The article commented that women don't often carry a mobile in their trouser pockets - but many do.  Children in schools are regularly sitting with wireless tablet computers on their laps, which could be harming their future reproductive health.  When 88% of studies are demonstrating harm to male fertility, it is time to take the health effects seriously and provide safe working environments, including in schools.

TEDx Talk: Wireless Wake-up Call by Jeromy Johnson.

February 2016

The European Academy for Environmental Medicine published guidelines for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of EMF-related health problems and illnesses in the December 2015 Reviews on Environmental Health.  This has now been retracted and will be re-submitted for publication when corrections have been made.

Amendment to the Complaint filed against a school in Massachusetts.  The case, filed last year, alleges that a school has violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to accommodate a pupil's disability (electromagnetic hypersensitivity).  The amendment adds a complaint of retaliation by the school.  Original Complaint.

The Vienna Medical Association have updated their poster on the use of mobile devices, December 2015 (the poster in German and English translation).  They advise that children carry mobile phones for emergencies only and that wired internet connections be used at work or in the home.

January 2016

'I gave my students iPads. They stopped talking to each other', by Launa Hall, primary school teacher. 

Finnish education professor's (Professor Rainer Nyberg) warning about wireless technology in schools, from EMFacts Consultancy.

The Government of Cyprus National Committee on Environment and Children's health has produced a video calling for children to be protected from the radiation from mobile phones and Wi-Fi, in school and the home.  On it children say, "We have the right to health", "You have the ability to protect us" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H43IKNjTvRM).

December 2015

The town of Borgofranco d'Ivrea in Italy has ordered Wi-Fi to be switched off in schools, to protect children's health.  Computers in the schools will be connected to the internet via cables.

Mobile phone use has been banned during school hours in the Seychelles. Teachers cannot carry a mobile phone in the classroom.

The European Academy for Environmental Medicine have published guidelines for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of EMF-related health problems and illnesses, in the December 2015 edition of Reviews on Environmental Health (Special Issue Vol. 30, Issue 4; full paper available).  The paper recommends 0.06V/m maximum exposures for Wi-Fi during the day and 0.019V/m for night time.  Exposures to Wi-Fi access points in schools or wireless devices are much higher than these values.  The Issue also includes other papers on electromagnetic hypersensitivity.  Most schools in the UK are currently failing to provide a safe environment for pupils and teachers with electromagnetic hypersensitivity. 

November 2015

Online Schools 'worse than traditional teachers' by Sean Coughlan. "A major report, based on research in 17 US states with online charter schools, has found "significantly weaker academic performance" in maths and reading in these virtual schools compared with the conventional school system."

Trailer for 'Generation Zapped'.

Increased release of mercury from dental fillings when exposed to electromagnetic fields. "Pregnant women with dental amalgam fillings should limit their exposure to electromagnetic fields to prevent toxic effects of mercury in their foetuses." Mortazavi and Mortazavi 2015, Reviews in Environmental Health.

October 2015

Another study finds that 2.45GHz Wi-Fi frequency signals damage DNA in the brain (Megha et al., 2015, listed in Wi-Fi studies).

'Ending the digital myth about the use of digital devices in classrooms', Dr Tom Butler, Irish Examiner.

More studies report damaging effects of Wi-Fi signals. Updated list can be found in 'Wi-Fi studies'. Signals from a Wi-Fi-enabled laptop (1 hour exposure at a distance of 60cm) damaged human sperm motility (Oni et al 2011). Wireless internet use (as opposed to wired internet) damages male fertility (Yildirim et al 2015).

'A need for accurate information' has been updated, October 2015.  87% of male fertility and radiofrequency radiation studies (Jan 2003- Oct 2015) found damage to male fertility (listed in Appendix 2). We need to take the risks to reproductive health seriously in schools and workplaces.

Computers 'do not improve' pupil results says OECD. Investing heavily in school computers and classroom technology does not improve pupils' performance, says a global study from the OECD. "Those students who use tablets and computers very often tend to do worse than those who use them moderately." 

September 2015

'Mobile phones and iPads could be banned from classrooms', The Telegraph. "GCSE results at the Ebbsfleet Academy in Kent have almost doubled since the school banned smartphones in 2013."

Complaint to the European Commission concerning the 2015 SCENIHR opinion on potential health effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields.  20 European organisations complain of conflicts of interest, biased reporting and scientific fraud.

Legal action taken against a school in Massachusetts for exposing a pupil with electromagnetic hypersensitivity to Wi-Fi signals.

Brussels International Scientific Declaration on Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS) and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), September 2015. "In view of our present scientific knowledge, we thereby stress all national and international bodies and institutions, more particularly the World Health Organization (WHO), to recognize EHS and MCS as true medical conditions which acting as sentinel diseases may create a major public health concern in years to come worldwide i.e. in all the countries implementing unrestricted use of electromagnetic field-based wireless technologies and marketed chemical substances." Press release.

July 2015

Expert forum on mobile phone and wireless risks to children, June 2015, videos and slides of presentations.  Speakers addressed the questions:  Should safety guidelines be strengthened to protect adults, children and vulnerable populations?  Should parents, teachers and schools restrict technology overuse among children?

An increase in the number of tumours of the brain or central nervous system of unknown type in the population in Sweden follows the increase in use of mobile phones from 1999 to 2013 (Hardell and Carlberg, 2015, Int J Environ Res Public Health 12:3793). 

Videos of the Conference at the Belgium Royal Academy of Medicine on Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity, May 2015 (also accessible on YouTube).  Article 'Electrohypersensitivity conference debunks 'nocebo effect' theory', by André Fauteux. 

Captured Agency: How the Federal Communications Commission is Dominated by the Industries it Presumably Regulates, by Norm Alster. "the FCC, prodded by an industry ever on the lookout for incremental growth opportunities, is ignoring the health of youngsters to promote expanded Wi-Fi subsidies in schools across the U.S.". 

June 2015

In 2009 Gul et al published a paper which showed that when pregnant rats were exposed to a mobile phone signal for 30 minutes a day, their female offspring had approximately a third fewer follicles (eggs) in their ovaries than the control (unexposed) rats. Now Bakacak et al (2015) have reported that exposing female rats to a mobile phone signal for 15 minutes a day for 15 days significantly and dramatically reduced the number of follicles in their ovaries. Exposed rats had less than 50% of the number of ovarian follicles than the control rats, after just 15 days. Schools are exposing girls to wireless Wi-Fi-enabled devices on a daily basis, often positioned on their lap or desk, with the transmitters close to their ovaries. Schools may be dramatically reducing the fertility of girls. Use of Wi-Fi-enabled devices in schools needs to be stopped until the effects on fertility have been properly investigated.

Video of the Press Conference at the Belgium Royal Academy of Medicine, the 5th Paris Appeal Congress, focusing on electrohypersensitivity (EHS). Thank you to Next-Up for the video.  Key points: we now have biomarkers for EHS, it is a real syndrome which severely damages peoples' quality of life; children urgently need to be protected in schools from wireless signals; wireless exposures in schools could trigger EHS, which may last throughout their lifetime; we have more than sufficient science to justify changing public health standards for wireless technologies.

Damage to learning/memory/cognition from radiofrequency signals.

Wifiinschools.org.uk would like to thank the doctors, scientists and members of the public who have the courage, integrity and kindness to stand up for the protection of human health from the damaging effects of wireless technologies, now so clearly demonstrated in the scientific literature.

May 2015

Chinese scientists confirm that wireless signals damage the blood-brain-barrier and impair memory in rats (Brain Research).  There are now at least 18 papers describing damage to learning/memory/cognition in rats or mice from radiofrequency signals.  How can wireless devices serve as learning tools in schools if they can damage the brain and decrease learning and memory?  Schools that ban mobiles see better academic results; would we see a further improvement if pupils didn't absorb Wi-Fi signals from devices and access points in the classroom every day?

City of Berkley (USA) voted unanimously to require retailers to warn customers of possible radiation exposure when purchasing mobile phones, 12th May 2015.  Similar warnings are needed for tablet computers, which have similar maximum SAR (absorption rate) values.

On the 11th May 2015, 190 scientists from 39 nations submitted an appeal to the United Nations, UN member states and the World Health Organization (WHO) requesting they adopt more protective exposure guidelines for electromagnetic fields (EMF) and wireless technology in the face of increasing evidence of risk. These exposures are a rapidly growing form of environmental pollution worldwide.  The appeal includes a request that children and pregnant women be protected.  The appeal can be viewed at http://www.emfscientist.org/.  PDF of the appeal is here.  The introductory 3 minute video by Dr Martin Blank is here (Vimeo) and the transcript of the video is here.

'Is Wi-Fi making your child ill?' Article in the Telegraph.

Canadian Medical Association Journal, 'Scientists decry Canada's outdated Wi-Fi safety rules' Scientists and safety advocates say Health Canada new rules do not take into account many new studies on the safety of cell phones and other wireless devices. May 2015.

April 2015

'2B RF' has been updated to '2B March 2015'.  It describes evidence for wireless signals causing cancer.  Cancer risks are similar to those for smoking and lung cancer for the same time since first use.  More scientists are calling for the cancer classification to be upgraded.

March 2015

Wireless radiation: what scientists know and you don't with Dr Joel Moskowitz. Green Street Radio.

3G wireless signals can act as a co-carcinogen and significantly increase cancer growth at very low exposure levels (Lerchl et al, 2015).  These are levels that many, if not most, of our children are now being exposed to from Wi-Fi at school, when using laptops and tablet PCs.  Further information in Powerwatch article.

February 2015

Cancer cluster at La Quinta Middle School (KESQ News).

"Astroturf and the manipulation of media messages", TEDx talk by Sharyl Attkisson.  How to spot a campaign designed to shut up the whistleblowers.

France passes a law which bans Wi-Fi in crèches, nurseries, pre-schools and places of care for under 3s.  In primary schools Wi-Fi has to be switched off when devices are not being used.  This is a good first step.  But why would damaging health effects of Wi-Fi stop at the age of 3?  Decreased fertility, damage to the brain, induction and promotion of cancers could also occur in older children, teenagers or adults.

Taiwan makes it illegal for under 2s to use electronic gadgets.  Parents face a fine of up to £1000 if they give their toddler or baby a smart phone, iPad or let them watch TV.  Parents also have to ensure that under 18s only use electronic products for a 'reasonable' length of time.

Why should it matter that children in schools are forced to absorb a class 2B carcinogen every day?  Well if we compare the risks for developing cancer from a mobile device with that for tobacco smoking and lung cancer, the risks are very similar for similar times since first use.  If we wouldn't give a child a cigarette because of the cancer risks, then we shouldn't be giving them a wireless computer or mobile or cordless phone to use.  The new document '2B RF' describes the data and evidence.  If your school or local authority has downplayed the risks of cancer from Wi-Fi-enabled devices then please pass on the document '2B RF' to them. 

Should you trust the guidance from Public Health England on the safety of Wi-Fi? The document 'A need for Accurate Information' describes why the guidance is based on inaccurate, incomplete and misleading information, along with conflicts of interest.  It is time to take safeguarding children seriously and to demand honest assessments of the risks by those responsible. 

December 2014

NGOs respond to the consultation on the WHO Environmental Health Criteria Monograph on radiofrequency (RF) fields: Response Document and accompanying Appendix.  The response describes a lack of transparency, failure to demonstrate independence of experts, biased reporting of the science and large sections of the report still not included.

'Our Children and Wireless Technology'. A video by MeansForChange.

Hardell and Carlberg 2014, Pathophysiology. Mobile phone and cordless phone use and the risk of glioma. Highest risks were found for first use under the age of 20.  3G phones gave higher risks of developing a glioma than 2G phones.

Case Reports in Medicine. Multifocal Breast Cancer in Young Women with Prolonged Contact between Their Breasts and Their Cellular Phones.

November 2014

Talk by Dr Martin Pall, "Electromagnetic field exposures act via activation of L-type voltage-gated calcium channels". 

Maryland City Votes Unanimously to Alert Citizens to the Health Risks of Cell Phone/Wireless Radiation and to Oppose Cell Towers on School Grounds. 

Dr Anthony Miller M.D., F.R.C.P., Professor Emeritus, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto: "We should not be using Wi-Fi in schools.  We should be using lines directly to our computers. Not Wi-Fi".  Dr Miller presented a talk at a symposium in September explaining why radiofrequency radiation should be classified as a probable carcinogen (2A), not a possible one (2B).  The talk can be viewed here, by clicking on Dr Anthony Miller presentation.  Slides are here. Includes evidence for breast cancers, salivary gland tumours, as well as brain tumours.  Previous presentation to Toronto Council in December 2013.

United Federation of Teachers (UFT) warns of the dangers of wireless radiation. "Wireless radiation is emitted by the myriad of wireless devices we encounter every day. It was once thought to be relatively harmless. However, we now know that wireless radiation can cause non-thermal biological effects as well, including damage to cells and DNA, even at low levels."

Talk by Dr Erica Mallery-Blythe on Electromagnetic Radiation, Health and Children 2014 (YouTube). Relevant for parents, schools and anyone interested in safe environments for children.

"Microwaves, Science and Lies" documentary investigates a product defence strategy to prevent the evidence for harm from radiofrequency radiation being acknowledged by advisory bodies. Seven minute film clip and trailer available here.  Powerwatch article here.

A document from the Environmental Health Trust: "Healthy Schools, a Call for Best Practices with Wireless Radiation ".

Mobile Phone Use and Cancer Risk: Research on a Group 2B Carcinogen by Joel Moskowitz, PhD, Director of the Centre for Family and Community Health, University of California.

Decreased survival of Glioma (brain tumour) patients is associated with long-term use of mobile and cordless phones.  Carlberg and Hardell 2014. "Due to the relationship with survival the classification of IARC is strengthened and RF-EMF should be regarded as human carcinogen requiring urgent revision of current exposure guidelines". 

Experts and doctors warn: Pregnant women and children should not be exposed to wireless radiation. Dr Olle Johansson.

October 2014

Interview with US Congressional candidate Kevin Mottus about wireless technologies, Wi-Fi in schools and conflicts of interest (on 'Boil the Frog Slowly', YouTube).

Classroom Wi-Fi dangers: Hillary Clinton heckled by US Congressional Candidate.

Wi-Fi crusaders prompt Edmonton Catholic School board to reconsider technology policies. 

Is wireless harmful? Four recent talks on Wi-Fi in schools (YouTube) by Dr Erica Mallery Blythe, Dr Elizabeth Evans, Alasdair Philips and Mike Mitcham, UK.

Former Nokia technology chief: mobile phones wrecked my health.

request from a teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District to work in a Wi-Fi-free area is granted.  Video of the teacher describing that her students were having nose bleeds and no incident reports were allowed by the school. 

Pictures of tablet computers being used in schools - notice how close the transmitters within the devices are to the chest/abdominal and reproductive organs of the children. 

September 2014

Wi-Fi in Schools: How Safe?  Public News Service.

Letter from Dr Olle Johansson about Wi-Fi in schools.

'Mobilize' the movie (about mobile phone safety) wins best documentary at the California Independent Film Festival.

Fatal fire, wireless smart meter suspected: "Be very aware, very vigilant" says Fire Chief.

A document from the Environmental Health Trust: "Healthy Schools, a Call for Best Practices with Wireless Radiation ". 

Steve Jobs was a low-tech parent.  "So, your kids must love the iPad?” I asked Mr. Jobs. “They haven’t used it,” he told me. “We limit how much technology our kids use at home.”

August 2014

Legal and Public Health Problems of the Wireless Age by Deborah Kopald.

Mobilize is an investigative documentary that explores the potential long-term health effects from cell phone radiation, including cancer and infertility. Premiere 12th September 2014.

The BabySafe project from the Environmental Health Trust.  Protect unborn babies from wireless technologies.  Leaflet 'What you need to know about wireless radiation and your baby'.

June 2014

Do Mobile phones Cause Brain Tumours? Article in The Telegraph. A recent study in France found significantly increased risks of developing brain tumours for the highest users (896 cumulative hours of use).  For children using tablet computers in schools (similar Specific Absorption Values (SARs) for mobiles and tablets when held close to the body), 896 hours of cumulative use could be achieved in less than two years, if using for three hours per day.  However, risks could be even greater in children, as their bodies absorb more radiation.  Schools may be putting children at increased risk of developing cancer.

Video 'Look up', illustrating what people are missing in life if they spend too much time on their gadgets.  Charity warns that nearly 50% of Secondary School pupils are addicted to their smartphone.

April 2014

Safeguarding in schools: Wireless technologies.  Evidence for why wireless technologies in schools are putting the health or development of children at risk and ought to be considered a safeguarding issue. Link.

A lawsuit has been filed by the Association for the Prevention and Combating of Electrosmog (APPLE), in Italy, to prompt Italian Government Ministries (Health, Environment, Education, and Economic Ministries) to promote a campaign to inform the public that heavy mobile phone use can be harmful to health.  They want the government to publish the text on mobile phones: "it can be harmful to health", as for cigarettes.  Article.  

Wi-Fi lawsuit in Israel.  Radiation from Wi-Fi: Not in our school?  Thirteen children testify in a petition to the court that they suffer from a disease arising from exposure to mobile phones and wireless network radiation, as found in schools. 

Wi-Fi induces a diabetes-like condition in rats: Salah et al, 2013, Environ Toxicol Pharmacol.

March 2014

Three new papers find damaging effects of Wi-Fi/2.4GHz signals on the eye or male fertility (Dasdag et al; Tok et al; Shahin et al).  Dasdag and colleagues conclude "We suggest Wi-Fi users to avoid long-term exposure of RF (radiofrequency) emissions from Wi-Fi equipment." Further details in Wi-Fi studies

February 2014

Leaflet for parents: "What parents need to know about the safety of mobile and Wi-Fi-enabled technologies."  Please pass on to others, so that they have a choice.

Responses to the UK Government statements about the safety of Wi-Fi for schools, from The Safe Schools IT Alliance (SSITA).  The document (linked here) is a very important one for all schools which use Wi-Fi, or are considering it, as they have a legal requirement to safeguard the health and development of children.  Please feel free to share with schools and anyone else who may be interested.

Please vote for Head Teachers to safeguard the health and development of children in schools (38degrees campaigns, 2014).

January 2014

Mobile phones and breast cancer.  A reminder about a video mentioned before.  Don't forget to keep wireless phones away from the body. 

'Casualty catastrophe': cell phones and child brains.  News report on Russia Today.

December 2013

Children's Health Expert Panel: Cell Phones and Wi-Fi - Are Children, Fetuses and Fertility at Risk? 

 'Casualty catastrophe': cell phones and child brains.  News report on Russia Today.

If you would like to print off the first pages of Wi-Fi studies to illustrate the damage found from Wi-Fi signals, a file can be found here

Employee has won compensation for crippling headaches, nausea and dizziness caused by using Wi-Fi at work

'Wi-Fi technology - an uncontrolled global experiment on the health of mankind'.  Marko Markov and Yuri Grigoriev, 2013 (Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine 32:200-208).  "We should stop telling the science, politicians and general population that Wi-Fi is harmless". "Who else if not we? When if not now?"

September 2013

Is Wi-Fi safe?  Not according to published science.  More papers are demonstrating damaging effects of Wi-Fi signals, or 2.45GHz (Wi-Fi frequency), in humans or animals.  Studies are listed in the link HERE.  Children in schools with Wi-Fi are at risk of suffering the effects described in the papers (increased oxidative stress, damage to DNA, cell death, altered brain activity and increased cancer cell growth).  Schools have a legal duty to provide a safe environment for pupils and staff and safe alternatives are available (hard wiring of computers).  How can a government which benefits financially so much from wireless technologies admit to schools that Wi-Fi is not as safe as they thought it was?  We need to act when scientific evidence shows that something is not safe.

Video 'Safe & Smart 4 r kids - reducing wireless radiation' from wifi-in-schools-australia.org.  Includes radiation readings from wireless tablet computers.

'Safe Schools 2012'  has now been translated into Hebrew.  The Israeli Ministry of Education has begun to introduce restrictions on the use of Wi-Fi in schools by banning it before the first grade and limiting its use up to the third grade.  However, this needs to be extended to all grades in schools if children's health is to be protected.   

The film 'Take Back Your Power' is now available.  "Utility companies are replacing electricity, gas and water meters worldwide with new generation “smart” meters at an unprecedented rate.  Take Back Your Power investigates the benefits and risks of this ubiquitous “smart” grid program, with insight from insiders, expert researchers, politicians, doctors, and concerned communities."  Video on effects of smart meters on human blood cells.

Formal Complaint to the Health Protection Agency, March 2013.  A complaint from UK organisations and individuals concerning the failure of the HPA to provide appropriate precautionary advice regarding radiofrequency electromagnetic fields.  Included is a complaint about the absence of any reference to the IARC classification of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as a Group 2B possible human carcinogen in the recent submission from the HPA to the Commons Select Committee Inquiry into Smart Meter Roll-out. 

August 2013

'Mobile phones can cause cancer and using one for just 17 minutes a day dramatically increases the risk, according to new research.' Daily express 31st July 2013.  The new research was a study which found that mobile phone users had higher oxidative stress by measuring chemicals in their saliva  (increases in MDA levels, carbonyl levels, ImAnOx, superoxide dismutase and uric acid).  Oxidative stress can cause cellular and genetic mutations which can cause the development of tumours.  But Wi-Fi also significantly increases oxidative stress, and thus may also cause cancers (Shahin et al. 2013;  Aynali et al. 2013; Naziroglu et al. 2012).  Microwave radiofrequency radiation may increase oxidative stress by free radical pair electron spin-polarization (Georgiou C.D., 2010, ICEMS Monograph, page 63). 

Class-action lawsuit against BC Hydro's smart meters in Canada and a lawsuit against SC Edison and PG&E in the US over the smart meters causing neurological damage and other adverse health effects.  This week the UK Government published its Smart meter roll-out document.  They mention public concern about adverse health effects, but instead of considering wired smart meters or setting up studies to test the safety of the radiation emitted by the smart meters, they propose a campaign to help the public to accept them.  So watch out for the adverts and leaflets promoting the benefits of wireless meters.  This was the same approach adopted by the Health Protection Agency - no biological safety studies to test whether Wi-Fi was safe, but misleading statements designed to reassure the public that everything is fine.  Schools were not informed that Wi-Fi signals are a possible human carcinogen and were not informed that studies have already found damage from Wi-Fi signals.  Head teachers have largely been reassured, but what they should be doing is demanding that safety studies are carried out.   

July 2013

The Israeli Supreme Court Ordered Israeli Government to Investigate Number of Children Suffering From Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS).  In the Supreme Court hearing, when the Government was asked what it would do if a child with EHS attended a school, the attorney for the Government answered: “The WiFi will be turned off in the school."  This order is the result of an extensive brief written by Attorney Dafna Tachover and submitted to the Court on June 13, 2013.  A 65-page brief, supported by 640 pages of appendices, emphasized the problem of EHS and claimed that it is unreasonable to expose children to WiFi when it is proven to cause sickness.  The brief attempted to prove: (1) EHS is an existing illness, caused by electromagnetic fields; (2) the thermal safety standard was proven false as early as 40 years ago; (3) it is unreasonable to rely on the WHO because it is corrupt; (4) the Government’s evaluation on the issue was unprofessional and negligent; and (5) the industry intentionally misled the public.

A poster from the Vienna Medical Association describing 10 tips for using a mobile more safely.

 'Digital dementia' is on the rise.  A 15 year old has been diagnosed with early onset dementia, which according to his doctor is because of his intense use of digital technology.  This might not be surprising when considering all of the papers which now find that mobile phone and Wi-Fi signals can damage DNA, kill brain cells, decrease cognitive abilities/inhibit learning, alter brain development and decrease the number of neurones in the hippocampus (a region of the brain important for learning and memory).  Not all studies find decreased cognitive abilities or cell death, but there are enough for this to be a serious concern when the devices are being introduced into schools as learning tools.  E.g. Kesari et al 2010; Bas et al., 2009; Nittby et al., 2008; Fragopoulou et al., 2010; Narayanan et al, 2009; Li et al., 2008; Kesari et al., 2012Kesari et al 2013.  

new paper finds that 2.45GHz wireless signals (Wi-Fi frequency) for only 2 hours/day suppresses embryonic implantation in mice, DNA damage in the brain and changes in blood cells, hormones and reactive oxygen species.  The authors conclude that the signals cause implantation failure/resorption or abnormal pregnancy in mice.  Exposures were 11V/m, similar to those experienced by someone using a wireless tablet computer (Shahin et al., Appl Biochem Biotechnol (2013) 169:1727–1751).  We recently reported on a paper which found that the same exposures increased the proliferation of human leukaemia cells (Naziroglu et al., International Journal of Radiation Biology (2012) 88: 449–456).  Schools are exposing children to these signals around the country every day, even when parents object.  Most parents no longer have the choice of a school without Wi-Fi.  In the rush to equip schools with gadgets fit for the 21st Century, schools have become unsafe places for children and teachers.  This is a safeguarding failure on a massive scale.

May 2013

Former Microsoft Canada President agrees school Wi-Fi is a Potential Health Hazard.  Frank Clegg, one of the biggest names in Canadian technology, has announced that he stands behind parents who object to wireless internet in schools.

The Report from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC Monograph 102) on radiofrequency electromagnetic fields is now available.  The Monograph represents the views and expert opinions of an IARC Working Group on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans, which met in Lyon, 24-31 May 2011.

April 2013

Wi-Fi signals increase oxidative toxicity in laryngotracheal mucosa of rats.  Aynali et al., Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol, March 2013.  "Larynx carcinoma comprises 25% of all head and neck cancers and 2–3% of malignant tumors."  "It is well known that oxidative stress induces larynx cancer".  "Lipid peroxidation is an oxidative stress marker."  "Lipid peroxidation levels were significantly (p<0.05) higher in the 2.45 GHz group than in cage and sham control groups."  "Future studies should therefore be aimed at identifying the specific intracellular pathways that transduce the Wi-Fi-induced changes in oxidative stress of exposed larynx of animal and human." The Wi-Fi signal was 11.07 V/m at the closest point in the body, 1 hour/day for 1 month.

2.45GHz electromagnetic radiation (Wi-Fi frequency; 10V/m) has proliferative effects in human leukaemia cancer cells.  Nazıroglu et al 2012, International Journal of Radiation Biology 88(6):449-456

The American Academy of Environmental Medicine calls on the Los Angeles School District not to install Wi-Fi in schools.  Letter, March 2013.

Your Phone vs. Your Heart. The New York Times, 23rd March 2013

The French National Assembly voted on 19th March 2013 to keep radiofrequency electromagnetic fields away from schools.  As part of an amendment to the bill for the 'rebuilding the schools of the Republic', MPs voted to promote wired Ethernet connections in schools and not Wi-Fi, supporting the precautionary principle and protecting children's health. Translation.  Adopted Text, Assemblée Nationale, page 63, 164.

Wi-Fi in schools? No Way! By Katharina Gustavs. 'Why we should be using WIRED networks in schools', presentation for Education Policy Development Committee, March 2013. 

How safe are wireless tablet computers for use in schools?  Two videos illustrate the radiation a user might be exposed to from an iPad in use.  Please switch off the Wi-Fi on a tablet computer and any wireless access points before children or young people use them. Video 1 and Video 2, by 'Safe in School'.  The Health Protection Agency has not published microwave exposures from tablet computers, despite some schools now giving them to children to use. 

Los Angeles Teachers’ Union (UTLA) calls for teachers, parents and students to be informed of all potential electromagnetic and radiation hazards in schools and for schools to develop plans for corrective actions.

March 2013

The Belgian government has announced measures to restrict the use of mobile phones by young children.  Public Health minister Laurette Onkelinx has announced that sales of mobile phones to children under 7 years will be banned in shops and also on the internet.  Adverts for mobile phones during children's programmes on TV, radio and the internet will also be banned.  The minister has highlighted the radiation risk from cell phones which is higher for young children than adults.  Other international recommendations for the use of mobile phones by children and young people can be found in 'Safe Schools 2012' and 'Wireless technologies and young People'.

February 2013

Powerwatch: Wi-Fi in schools  - a danger for pupils and teachers?  The article mentions "The Health Protection Agency (soon to be part of Public Health England) have yet to investigate peoples' radiofrequency exposure from ipads and other 'tablets', but a senior spokesperson told me that "we should expect them to be similar to mobile phones.  Currently schools are issuing ipads and other wireless tablets to school age children."  But, the UK Chief Medical Officers recommend that children under the age of 16 should not use mobile phones except for essential purposes.  Shouldn't schools know what the exposures from ipads are before they buy them?  Shouldn't the Chief Medical Officers be also warning against the use of tablet computers by children?  Shouldn't a Health Protection Agency which suspects that exposures are similar to mobile phones be calling on schools not to buy them until tests have been done? 

Letters to the Los Angeles Unified School Board about the safety of Wi-Fi for schools from Dr Martha Herbert (Assistant Professor, Pediatric Neurology, Harvard Medical School), Dr Joel Moskowitz (Director, Center for Family and Community Health, University of California),  Cindy Sage (Co-editor of the BioInitiative reports), Katharina Gustavs (Building Biology Environmental Consultant) and Dr Magda Havas (Environmental and Resource Studies, Trent University).

Special report: Keeping mobile phone in bra may cause breast cancer. KTVU.com.

Professor Dariusz Leszczynski has proposed a Round-Table Initiative to bring together scientists with very different views on the subject of mobile phone and Wi-Fi safety.  It is clear that scientists do not all agree that wireless technologies are safe (many consider them unsafe: 'Safe Schools 2012' and 'BioInitiative 2012').  Dr David Gee (European Environment Agency) comments, "They (scientists) would also be asked to spell out the plausible consequences of being wrong: consequences are as important as causes when we are at the front end of the histories of potentially harmful technologies..." What are the health consequences of using Wi-Fi in schools and what are the health consequences of taking a precautionary approach?

Teens, screens and metabolic syndrome.  "... if we look at two children with the same activity/exercise levels, but Child A’s sedentary activity is reading, while Child B’s sedentary activity is screen-related, Child B will have a higher risk of developing metabolic syndrome."

Prenatal and postnatal cell phone exposures and headaches in children.  "In this study, cell phone exposures were associated with headaches in children."

The increase in mental health problems among children can depend on mobile phone radiation.  By Mona Nilsson.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (60,000 primary care paediatricians) supports radiation warnings on mobile phones.  "The current FCC standard for maximum radiation exposure levels is based on the heat emitted by mobile phones...  Although wireless devices sold in the United States must ensure that they do not exceed the maximum allowable SAR limit when operating at the device’s highest possible power level, concerns have been raised that long-term radiofrequency energy exposure at this level affects the brain and other tissues and may be connected to types of brain cancer, including glioma and meningioma."  This follows statements from the European Environment Agency, Council of Europe, European Parliament, International Commission for Electromagnetic Safety, BioInitiative Report 2012Seletun Statement and others, saying that current exposure limits are no longer protective of human health.  The UK Health Protection Agency advises schools "exposures from Wi-Fi equipment satisfy international guidelines. There is no consistent evidence of health effects from radiofrequency exposures below guideline levels and no reason why schools and others should not use Wi-Fi equipment."  Many doctors, scientists and political organizations have said that the current international guidelines are obsolete.  Reasons for not using Wi-Fi equipment in schools may be that Wi-Fi signals are possibly carcinogenic to humans, can alter brain activity and may be damaging human fertility (1, 2).

January 2013

The European Environment Agency Report, 'Late lessons from early warnings  II: science, precaution, innovation' (January 2013) is now available at http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/late-lessons-2. On page 541 is a chapter on mobile phones: 'Mobile phone use and risk, early warnings, early actions?' by Lennart Hardell, Michael Carlberg and David Gee. In it they mention "The IARC carcinogenic classification also appears not to have had any significant impact on governments' perceptions of their responsibilities to protect public health from this widespread source of radiation."  Schools also have a responsibility to protect the health of their pupils and staff on school premises and an awareness that mobile phones and Wi-Fi are now classified as a possible human carcinogen can help them to provide a safer school environment.  Shouldn't the UK Government be informing schools of this? 

Three teachers in Sweden became ill and developed various forms of hypersensitivity when wireless networks were installed and students received wireless computers.  "Teachers believe that the employer has ignored concerns about electromagnetic radiation".  Automatic translation and original article.

Video from Wi-Fi Australia about the use of Wi-Fi in schools, 'WiFi in schools - The Facts'.

Wishing you all a happy and safe 2013.  May all who care about the health and wellbeing of children, young people and teachers in schools act to reduce microwave pollution on school premises.  Microwave pollution is produced by Wi-Fi gadgets and mobile/smart phone transmitters, wireless smart meters and some other wireless communication technologies.  Microwave pollution is a possible human carcinogen.  It has been found to reduce fertility, alter development and change brain activity and function.  We support the right of parents to choose for their children to be safe whilst at school.  All it takes to make school environments safer is to choose wired connections instead of wireless.  Do something great this year - ask your local school to use wired technologies and thank and value those that do. 

December 2012

 Is male sperm in decline? A new study in the journal Human Reproduction has found "a severe and general decrease in sperm concentration and morphology at the scale of a whole country over a substantial period."  The authors state "This constitutes a serious public health warning.  The link with the environment particularly needs to be determined".  Wifiinschools.org.uk have found 32 published studies since 2003 which find damage to male fertility from wireless signals.  These make up 80% of the available studies for this time period, with 20% reporting no effect.  93% of human studies found damage to sperm from wireless signals.  Damage includes decreases in sperm motility, decreased sperm viability, damage to sperm DNA (which may result in abnormalities in the next generation), decreased sperm count and abnormal sperm morphology (shape).  Wi-Fi has been found to affect male fertility, with studies by Avendaño et al 2012 and Atasoy et al 2012.  Living near a phone mast was associated with sperm head abnormalities in mice, Otitoloju et al 2010.  It is highly likely that male teachers working in Wi-Fi schools will have reduced fertility as a result of the Wi-Fi signals.  To keep sperm as healthy as possible men could keep mobile and smart phones out of their trouser pockets, keep smart phones, wireless laptops and tablet computers away from reproductive organs and use wired connections whenever possible.  The Radiation Research Trust have a 'Save the Male' campaign.  Wi-Fi schools have the convenience of 'no wires' but this may be at the cost of the reproductive health of their male teachers.

Students Thrive As Head Bans Mobile Phones
.  The Telegraph. Head Teacher Mr. Fenn said "I don't think there's any other initiative in the last 12 years I've seen that has had the same impact. Apart from getting the best teachers we can, I think it's the most important thing we have done for pupils to improve learning."  Top marks! Ofsted hails turnaround at schools that outlawed mobile phones.  Mail Online.  Pupils are forbidden from making calls, texting or using online messaging.  Staff at the boys’ school say the difference in behaviour has been ‘dramatic’.  Chief inspector of schools calls for mobiles to be barred from classrooms. 

A new documentary well worth seeing: 'RESONANCE - BEINGS OF FREQUENCY'.  Two billion years ago life first arrived on this planet; a planet, which was filled with a natural frequency. As life slowly evolved, it did so surrounded by this frequency and inevitably, it began tuning in. By the time mankind arrived on earth an incredible relationship had been struck; a relationship that science is just beginning to comprehend. Research is showing that being exposed to this frequency is absolutely integral to us. It controls our mental and physical health, it synchronizes our circadian rhythms, and it aids our immune system and improves our sense of wellbeing. But over the last 25 years the harmony has been disturbed, and disturbed dramatically. Mankind has submerged itself in an ocean of artificial frequencies. To the naked eye the planet appears to be the same. But at a cellular level it is the biggest change that life on earth has endured; the affects of which we are just starting to see and feel.

Please note: in the film it mentions 'free radical cells'; we think this should say 'free radicals', as we don't have 'free radical cells'.  The film discusses the hormone melatonin.  If Wi-Fi decreases melatonin concentrations (as has been found in some studies for mobile phones) then it would be expected to have adverse health effects, including increases in cancer risks from radiofrequency radiation and other carcinogens, disruption of sleep and circadian (24 hour) rhythms and possibly changes to the onset of puberty.  Measuring the effects of Wi-Fi on melatonin concentrations in humans should be done before schools use Wi-Fi on their premises.  The Health Protection Agency should have insisted that studies were carried out before schools started using the technology (see below).

Mobile phone radiation lawsuit (filed on 6th November 2012) alleges Illinois man developed a brain tumour following years of mobile phone use.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) have had a 5 year research project into the safety of Wi-Fi in schools, but no biological or health tests have taken place.  Surely when the question the HPA was asking was 'Is Wi-Fi safe to use in schools?' they could have tried to find out?  Schools may not be aware that reassurances have been given about Wi-Fi without biological tests having been done.  Given the large number of young people in schools now using Wi-Fi-enabled technologies there are a surprisingly small number of studies into its safety.  Scientific opinion needs to change according to the evidence.  All of the studies investigating the effects of Wi-Fi on humans to date have found changes in normal physiology or damage to fertility and DNA.  If these effects on male fertility and attention/brain activity are replicated by other groups, then the HPA claim that there are no reasons why Wi-Fi should not be used in schools is incorrect.

November 2012

Wifiinschools.org.uk are calling on schools to ensure that they are following the Children Act of 2004 and ensuring that "No child should suffer harm, either at home or in school.  Everyone who works in schools has a responsibility to make sure that all our young people are safe".  Under Section 175 of the Education Act 2002 there is a requirement for governing bodies to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people. 

The governing body must provide a safe environment for children and young people to learn in.  They must promote safe practice and challenge unsafe practice.

Governors are not called to let children use technologies which may cause cancer (radiofrequencies are a class 2B human carcinogen).  Governors are not called to let children hold wireless computers (laptops, tablets or smart phones) close to reproductive organs which may damage future fertility.  Governors are not called to let children absorb microwave signals in school (Wi-Fi and mobile phones) which will be changing their brain activity and thus may be damaging brain development and cognition.  Governors are not called in the Children Act to support the economic growth of the wireless communications industry.  On the 19th November 2012, news reports stated that Prime Minister David Cameron wanted to put economic growth above everything else.  A growing economy is very important.  However schools are called to ensure that no child should suffer harm whilst at school.

Position paper on the Italian tumour court case from the International Commission for Electromagnetic Safety (updated). “To establish a scientific basis for a more severe classification of mobile phone exposure as a probable carcinogen (class 2A), an important background of in vitro and in vivo studies is required, as well as the discovery of biophysical or biochemical mechanisms that could be involved in the induction of tumors. We maintain that such a background is available today.” 

Mobile phone radiation does harm your baby and may cause hyperactivity, study says.  Article in the Mail Online 11th November 2012.  "Dr. Hugh Taylor, a medical professor and chief of Yale's Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, co-authored a recent study to probe the impact of cell phone exposure on pregnancies."  "Taylor says the study shows there is a "biological basis" to suggest cell phone exposure can impact pregnancies."

Spike in aggressive brain cancers in Denmark.  Microwave News.  "The Danish Cancer Society is reporting that the number of men diagnosed with glioblastoma —the most malignant type of brain cancer— has nearly doubled over the last ten years. Hans Skovgaard Poulsen, the head of neuro-oncology at Copenhagen University Hospital, is calling it a 'frightening development'."

High blood pressure, DECT cordless phones and Wi-Fi, a case history.  'Health and Wireless Technologies' from the Swiss Association of Building Biology.  

Mobile phones CAN cause tumours.  Italy's Supreme Court has ruled that a business man's brain tumour was caused by his use of mobile and cordless phones at work.  Oncologist and professor of environmental mutagenesis Angelo Gino Levis and neurosurgeon Dr Giuseppe Grasso gave evidence supporting the claim.  They argued that mobile and cordless phones emit electromagnetic radiation causing damage to cells and increasing the risk of tumours.  In 2011 the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified the radiation from wireless phones and Wi-Fi as possibly carcinogenic to humans.  Research indicates that Wi-Fi signals can damage DNA (Atasoy; Avendaño).  Professor Levis commented "It'll open not a road but a motorway to legal actions by victims. We're considering a class action."  Articles in The Sun, The Telegraph and The Mail

Useful information sheet on Wi-Fi health concerns, prepared by the Cambridgeshire Branch of the Safe Schools Information Technology Alliance for a meeting held recently at Cambridge University.

Position Statement from the International Commission for Electromagnetic Safety (ICEMS) on the recent court case in Italy (see below).  "Given the amount of scientific evidence regarding the biological and health effects of radiofrequency radiation, it is possible to conclude that new biologically-based safety standards need to be adopted for protecting the health of mobile phone users".  

Italian Supreme Court rules that Cell Phones can Cause Cancer. Press Release from Dr Joel Moskowitz from the School of Public Health, University of California. "The evidence of harm from cell phone radiation has been increasing so it is only a matter of time before lawsuits filed in U.S. courts by cell phone radiation victims will be successful. The Insurance industry will not provide product liability insurance due to concerns that juries will find that the Telecom industry has behaved much like the Tobacco and Asbestos industries. So the Telecom industry could be faced with paying huge damages to individuals and governments."

Italian Supreme Court Affirms Tumour Risk from Long-Term use of a Cell Phone.  Microwave News article and links.

Mobile phones CAN cause tumours.  Italy's Supreme Court has ruled that a business man's brain tumour was caused by his use of mobile and cordless phones at work.  Oncologist and professor of environmental mutagenesis Angelo Gino Levis and neurosurgeon Dr Giuseppe Grasso gave evidence supporting the claim.  They argued that mobile and cordless phones emit electromagnetic radiation causing damage to cells and increasing the risk of tumours.  In 2011 the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified the radiation from wireless phones and Wi-Fi as possibly carcinogenic to humans.  Research indicates that Wi-Fi signals can damage DNA (Atasoy; Avendaño).  Professor Levis commented "It'll open not a road but a motorway to legal actions by victims. We're considering a class action."  Articles in The Sun, The Telegraph and The Mail

October 2012

Wi-Fi technology in schools: is it time to reconsider?  By Dan Baljak, BC Teachers' Federation. "now is the time for proactive dialogue because at some point, indifference to people’s concerns becomes negligence."

CBC radio interview with Professor Olle Johansson on Wi-Fi in schools, October 2012.

Suicidal feelings, self-Injury, and mobile phone use after lights out in adolescents, Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 2012, 37(9):1023-1030.  Conclusions: Mobile phone use after lights out may be associated with poor mental health, suicidal feelings, and self-injury in both early and late adolescents.

Scientists in Gujarat found that mobile phone-like signals damaged spinach and tulsi (holy basil) plants (Times of India).  This follows the report of changes in gene expression and stress-responses in tomato plants by mobile phone signals of only 5V/m for ten minutes (exposures within the range of those experienced by users of wireless computers).  In 2011 the first symposium was held into the effects of man-made electromagnetic fields on trees.  Why should schools be interested in effects on plants? The damage illustrates the toxic nature of wireless signals on living things.  We need healthy plants for a sustainable future, for food production and to help to reduce increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. 

Wireless technologies decrease female fertility in insects (fruit flies (Drosophila); Panagopoulos 2012) and mammals (rats; Gul et al 2009).  Are wireless technologies in schools damaging the germ cells or ovaries of female students or the offspring of female teachers?  They might be.  Schools have installed the technologies without knowing the answer to the question.  But schools and local authorities, as the employers, are responsible for damage caused by the school environment.  The World Health Organization includes in their Reproductive Human Rights "the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health."  Panagopoulos D. J., 2012: "Microwave radiation is found to damage DNA not only in the nurse and follicle cells during oogenesis as by other previously known stress factors, but also in the oocyte from which the progeny organism will be developed after fertilization.  DNA damage in the oocyte may result in inherited mutations transferred to the next generations...".  Gul et al 2009: "The decreased number of follicles in pups exposed to mobile phone microwaves suggest that intrauterine exposure has toxic effects on ovaries." 

The Deputy Minister of Health in Israel, Rabi Yaakov Litzman, has asked asked the Minister of Education, PM Gidon Sahar, to rethink the deployment of WI-FI in Israeli schools due to the possible health risks associated with the technology.  

September 2012

Wifiinschools.org.uk are calling on all schools to ensure that Wi-Fi transmitters are switched off during examinations.  Wi-Fi has been found to decrease a measure of attention in young men whilst using their working memory and alter the electrical brain activity in young women (Papageorgiou et al 2011; Managioti et al 2010).  If pupils are having their attention decreased as a result of absorbing the Wi-Fi signals in the school environment, then the school is not allowing pupils to work to their best ability.  Pupils and their parents may be able to challenge examination grades if they think that they could have performed better had the school not had the Wi-Fi switched on. 

Dr. Christine Aschermann and Dr. Barbara Dohmen, physicians in Germany have produced a document entitled 'Wi-Fi adversely affects our health', July 2012.  In it they state "Children... are at particular risk from artificial electromagnetic fields.  Since their bodies and brains are still developing, children are especially susceptible to unphysiological environmental conditions. Acting out their joy of discovery and following their drive to play, children perceive these wireless electronic devices as attractive toys—completely oblivious to any risk.  As parents and guardians, we have the responsibility to safeguard the children who embody our future.  We therefore recommend foregoing the use of Wi-Fi and instead choosing wired solutions, certainly at home as well as at schools and preschools; in short, in all places where children spend extended periods of time."  Original article available here, and in English here.  

Welcome back to a new school year.  We hope schools have a successful year whilst ensuring a safe working environment for all.  Safeguard your pupils' health and development and maximise cognitive abilities by choosing fibre- optic or other wired connections for information and communication technologies.  For tablet computers, there are wired versions available.  Please feel free to pass on to schools or distribute to parents and neighbours the flyer for Safe Schools 2012

August 2012

 'Implications of the IARC classification that are not spoken aloud'.  An article by Professor Dariusz Leszczynski (from the Finnish Radiation Protection Authority) in the Washington Times. In summary, he states that the IARC classification (2011) 

-  justifies implementation of the Precautionary Principle
-  confirms existence of non-thermal effects that can cause health risk
-  indicates that current safety standards are insufficient to protect health of the users.

In other words schools and Local Authorities are justified in banning mobile and smart phones, and other radiofrequency-emitting technologies in schools (including Wi-Fi) as a result of the IARC classification of radiofrequency radiation as a possible human carcinogen in 2011.  The classification was for radiofrequency radiation and not just for mobile phones.

Discussing mobile phone safety with young people.

July 2012

International experts on smart meters and electrohypersensitivity: correcting the gross misinformation. In  La Maison du 21e siècle, July 2012.  "Even though RF/microwaves don’t have the energy to directly break chemical bonds, unlike ionizing radiation such as X-rays, there is scientific evidence that this energy can cause DNA damage indirectly leading to cancer by a combination of biological effects. Recent publications have documented the generation of free radicals, increased permeability of the blood brain barrier allowing potentially toxic chemicals to enter the brain, induction of genes, as well as altered electrical and metabolic activity in human brains upon application of cell phone RF/microwaves similar to those produced by smart meters."

Video about cherry picking scientific data from Dr Havas (video).  The video mentions Sir Karl Popper, who said "scientists seek to let reality speak for itself and to contradict their theories or hypotheses when those theories are incorrect".  It is time to face the reality of scientific data and to admit that (no matter how inconvenient) radiofrequency radiation below existing guideline values does cause biological damage and adverse health effects.  The damage may be dependent upon electromagnetic, biological or environmental conditions (which may be why some studies find no effect), but damage does occur.  If schools are to be safeguarding the health and wellbeing of their pupils they need to be making safety decisions based on reality.  It is far easier to do nothing and to find safety in following the crowd.  How can wireless gadgets possibly be damaging health when the Government allows it and so many people are using them?  Yet in the real world, there is published scientific evidence of damage and the current exposure limits are clearly inadequate.

Safe Schools 2012 (document here) has been updated with statements on Wi-Fi in schools from the American Academy of Environmental Medicine and the Russian National Committee for Non-Ionizing Radiation, both June 2012.  Please pass on to schools.

The Russian National Committee for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection have agreed a resolution which recommends:
1. Ministry of Health and other organizations, responsible for the population safety (including children), should pay attention to the regulation of Wi-Fi use in kindergartens and schools; to the strengthening of sanitary control of the Wi-Fi using and to the development of an appropriate regulatory framework.
2. To recommend the usage of wired networks in schools and educational institutions, rather than a network using wireless broadband systems, including Wi-Fi.

June 2012

The Russian National Committee for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection has agreed a draft resolution which recommends that Wi-Fi and wireless broadband are not used in kindergartens or schools.  In a video, the Chairman, Professor Yuri Grigoriev describes the resolution (RCNIRP meeting on 19th June 2012; transcript of the video in English).

Food Technology in schools: Electromagnetic field exposure from induction cookers exceeds EC guidance.  Conventional cookers avoid exposing the users to very high electromagnetic fields. Abstract.

Radiofrequency radiation exposure caused profound changes in the results of a hospital immunoassay (human chorionic gonadotrophin assay, Shahbazi-Gahrouei et al., 2012, Pathophysiology).  Since wireless technologies have been found to have a wide range of biological effects, for accurate results in hospital laboratories, biological research or even school biology laboratories, it is necessary to restrict wireless devices and transmitters.

The UK Trades Union Congress (TUC) Occupational Cancer document was updated in February 2012.  The TUC recommends that caution should be used to prevent exposures to class 2B (possible) carcinogens.  Wireless communication technologies emit radiofrequency radiation, a class 2B carcinogen.  The updated document also recommends that safety representatives ask their employer for a list of class 1, 2A and 2B carcinogens which workers are likely to be exposed to in the workplace.  "Any worker exposed to any possible carcinogen should be regularly monitored to ensure there are no adverse health effects arising from the exposure". "Safety representatives should also seek an assurance that no new carcinogens will be introduced into the workplace without full consultation and agreement with the unions, which should only agree where there are no alternatives and workers are totally protected from any contact with the substance."  "Trade unions want to see an enforcement-led campaign by the Health and Safety Executive and local authorities aimed at ensuring that employers which continue to expose workers to carcinogens are prosecuted. In addition the HSE should not see exposure up to a Workplace Exposure Limit as being acceptable when removal or substitution are options." 

Stopsmartmeters.org.uk has a smart meter poster available.  The American Academy of Environmental Medicine have recently called for smart meters not to be placed in schools because of health concerns.

'In classroom of future, stagnant scores'New York Times.  "Schools are spending billions on technology, even as they cut budgets and lay off teachers, with little proof that this approach is improving basic learning." 

The British Columbia Confederation of Parent Councils in Canada has passed two resolutions concerning microwave wireless radiation in schools.   Resolution 17 "calls on each Board of Education to have one public school at each education level (elementary, middle, secondary) that is free of Wi-Fi, cordless phones and cell phones. This school will only be equipped with wired computers and wired telephones for personal, educational and administrative purposes."  Resolution 18 calls on Boards of Education to "cease to install Wi-Fi and other wireless networks in schools where other networking technology is feasible." 

Papers finding biological or health effects of Wi-Fi.

May 2012

A paper published in the Journal of Pediatric Urology (Atasoy et al., 2012) has found that conventional Wi-Fi signals (802.11.g, 95mW output power) increase oxidative stress and oxidative DNA damage in the testes of young rats over a period of 20 weeks. The authors commented "The reason why young growing rats were used in this study is that their growing organs may be more prone to the effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation, like children and adolescents who spend a lot of time using wireless computers at home and school."  "Oxidative stress is a well-established cause of male infertility and carcinogenesis".  "Children using wireless computers or staying between two wireless devices are exposed to higher levels of radiation than the dose used in our study."  Conclusions: "These findings raise questions about the safety of radiofrequency exposure from Wi-Fi Internet access devices for growing organisms of reproductive age, with a potential effect on both fertility and the integrity of germ cells."

Beautiful, designer phone booths in São Paulo.  With the Department of Health and UK Chief Medical Officers advising young people not to use mobile phones, it is important to have wired phone boxes or booths in public places.  Why not get creative with wired solutions?

Food for thought: Today's environment influences behaviour generations later. Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Crews et al., 2012, available here).  Divan et al. (2008 and 2012) found that mobile phone use during pregnancy was associated with an increase in behavioural problems in children.  Exposure to mobile phone signals has been found to alter brain development, behaviour and fertility (Aldad et al., 2012; Sonmez et al., 2010; Bas et al., 2009a; Bas et al., 2009b; Odaci et al., 2008; Gul et al., 2009; Pyrpasopoulou et al., 2004).  Could wireless technologies influence behaviour and development generations later? 

Headteacher Update Magazine - The Wi-Fi Debate.

At the International Childhood Cancer 2012 conference, Dr Annie Sasco, MD and Professor Dariusz Leszczynski both said that they supported a classification of radiofrequency fields as probably carcinogenic to humans (Class 2A).

Mobile phones and breast cancer.  Dr Nagourney and Dr West warn women not to carry a mobile phone in their bra (video).  If you carry a mobile phone, carry it away from your body.

Pupils in the UK could face a ban on mobile phones in school as part of a new Ofsted crackdown on classroom discipline.  Schools will be penalised for failing to tackle persistent low-level disruption in lessons under a tough new inspection regime being introduced next term.  This could force teachers to forbid mobile phone use by pupils. Reported in the Dailymail. Also in the Telegraph.  This is an excellent step towards creating safer environments in schools.  In 2011, Redmayne et al reported in the journal Reproductive Toxicology "There is sufficient evidence, supported by recommendations from fertility researchers and governmental bodies, to make it advisable for schools to have and enforce policies that remove cell phones from students’ pockets during school." The paper reported that 43% of pupils admitted to the private use of a mobile phone in class, despite school mobile phone rules.  To protect fertility, schools would need to put in place policies that prevented mobile phones from being kept in pupils' pockets whilst at school and not just to ban their use.

Professor Dariusz Leszczynski from the Finnish Radiation Protection Agency has commented in the Washington Times that he considers the UK HPA report to be biased and misleading.  He says "Unlike the claims on HPA website the UK HPA AGNIR Report 2012 is not a comprehensive review but it is a biased review."  "It is obvious that the AGNIR's members do not agree with the outcome of IARC evaluation. However, complete omission of it feels like rewriting of history and omitting inconvenient facts. In my opinion it shows a very biased attitude of AGNIR members towards the IARC classification. After all, in the cancer research the IARC evaluations are a "gold standard"."  How can schools hope to safeguard pupils if they are being given misleading and biased information? 

A misleading report has been produced by the UK Health Protection Agency (HPA) about the safety of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields. The report concludes that there is still no convincing evidence that mobile phone technologies cause adverse effects on human health.  The report lists many studies finding damaging biological and health effects, but manages to dismiss them for various reasons.  Some studies were omitted.  No mention was made of the decision by the World Health Organization to classify radiofrequency radiation as possibly carcinogenic to humans.  We illustrate the misleading and dishonest nature of the report with the example of male fertility, where 78% of the male fertility studies mentioned in the report found decreased measures of fertility or sperm damage.  Amazingly the report's conclusion is that the results provide no substantial evidence of adverse health effects, in particular for ... reproductive function (more information here).

April 2012

Live video streaming from the conference Childhood Cancer 2012. 24-26th April. Conference site.   Non-ionising radiation talks are on Wednesday afternoon, 25th April. 

Is Your child's mobile giving them cancer? Express.  A close call - why the jury is still out on mobile phones. The Independent.  'The biggest experiment of our species'  Mail Online.  The Office of National Statistics show a 50 per cent increase in frontal and temporal lobe tumours between 1999 and 2009.  Dr Charlie Teo on 'Today': Brain tumours in teenagers.  Brain tumours are the leading cause of cancer deaths in children.  Schools shouldn't be contributing to the statistics by making children use mobile or smart phones in the classroom.

Mobile phone radiation damages fetal brain development in mice, impairs memory and leads to hyperactivity. The authors speculate that the rise in behavioral disorders in developed countries may be, at least in part, due to a contribution from fetal mobile telephone radiation exposure. Published in Nature Scientific Reports 2:312, March 2012.

Scientists hit out at Welsh Government's mobile phone advice to children. Wales Online 16 March 2012. The full document of comments by leading scientists on the Welsh leaflets can be found here.  MP Jonathan Edwards said “The Welsh Government should be pursuing a precautionary principle which is based on facts."

March 2012

The paper published in The International Journal of Andrology by Salama et al (2008) on sperm count in rabbits has been retracted by the author. The paper has been removed from this website. However, there remains strong evidence for effects of mobile phone signals on male fertility from many other studies. Source: Microwave News.

The Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association recognizes that the installation of Wi-Fi microwave transmitters and the expanded use of wireless devices in Catholic schools and educational facilities may present a potential Health and Safety risk or hazard in the workplace. Association Website.

The World Health Organization recognizes electromagnetic dangers: let us declare human health rights. Pathophysiology, February 2012.

Laptop computers need to be re-named so that users do not place them on their laps. A study has modelled electric currents induced in pregnant women and their developing fetuses when using a laptop. They found that induced currents from the power supply can exceed safety limits. Archives of Environmental and Occupational Health, February 2012.

It is almost five years since Sir William Stewart called on the Health Protection Agency (HPA) to investigate the safety of Wi-Fi in schools.  Over the past five years the HPA have taken measurements of radiation from wireless laptops and access points - but they have not carried out health studies or tested for biological effects.  Independent scientific studies are finding effects of Wi-Fi on the brain and fertility.  Studies find that similar microwave signals are associated with biological damage.  So why has Wi-Fi safety not been investigated?  Nearly every young person in the country has to absorb Wi-Fi signals at school.  Surely there should be independent testing of the safety of Wi-Fi?  If Wi-Fi is safe for schools to use then why isn't it safe to test out whether this is true? Perhaps Governments do not want to know the answer.  Mobile technologies bring in €130 billion of tax revenue every year in Europe. Who would want to question the safety of such a lucrative industry?  Perhaps the teachers, parents and pupils who have Wi-Fi in their schools.  

Congress on risks for public health and the environment. 16-18 May 2012, Madrid.

DNA damage in human hair root cells after using a mobile phone.

Neurophysiologist calls for a ban of mobile phone masts near to schools to stop exposing children to harmful radiation. Dr Baxendale believes that radio frequency radiation has a damaging effect on the nervous system. 

February 2012

Parents may take children out of school over Wi-Fi concerns.

Is Wi-Fi hurting children? 6 minute radio interview with Dr Havas.

A report has been published by 'Environment and Human Health, Inc', Yale University, entitled 'Cell Phones, Technology, Exposures, Health Effects'.  The authors (including Professors of Pediatrics, Oncology, Obstetrics and Environmental Health) are calling for exposure standards to be set which protect human health (they do not at the moment). They also want a ban of all advertising of mobile communication products to children. Their recommendations

The American Academy of Environmental Medicine opposes the installation of wireless 'smart meters' in homes and schools based on a scientific assessment of the current medical literature.  "As representatives of physician specialists in the field of environmental medicine, we have an obligation to urge precaution when sufficient scientific and medical evidence suggests health risks which can potentially affect large populations."  They are calling for an immediate moratorium on 'smart meter' installation until these serious public health issues are resolved. They add, "Continuing with their installation would be extremely irresponsible."  UK Petition.

The 7th February is 'Safer Internet Day', an opportunity to let young people know that the Department of Health recommends they do not use mobile phones.  To reduce the cumulative absorption of potentially damaging microwave radiation, wired internet access should be used wherever possible. Suggestions for raising the issue with young people here

Fragopoulou et al report in the journal Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine that crucial regions of the brain related to learning and memory are impacted by whole body exposure to mobile communication technologies.  Summary at Electromagnetichealth.org.

The Radiation Research Trust have delivered a document to the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street, entitled 'Smart Meters - Smarter Practices' (available as Part 1 and Part 2).  They are calling for Smart Meters to be wired, not wireless.  The document describes why fibre-optic or other wired connections are more sustainable and biologically compatible.  Schools can choose to only accept wired Smart Meters and wired utility monitors on their properties.

January 2012

UK Petition asking for fibre optic network to be used for smart meters, not wireless.

The Delhi government in India plans to make it mandatory for all mobile phones sold in the national Capital to prominently display the level of radiation emitted by different brands of handsets.

Professor Dariusz Leszczynski and Professor Olle Johansson both consider whether too much emphasis has been placed on epidemiological studies when it comes to public safety and wireless technologies.  A call for a multidisciplinary approach.

The hidden danger of touchscreens.

Could mobile phones and Wi-Fi be affecting the quality of biological and medical research results? 'Smart Results', BNA Bulletin, page 25. 

Cardiologist Dr. Sinatra speaks on the cardiovascular risks posed by Wi-Fi in vulnerable individuals with undiagnosed heart problems.

Redmayne et al (2011) found that a large proportion of young people were ignoring the mobile phone rules in school.  42% reported texting from inside a pocket in the classroom up to 120 times a day.  The authors stated that ‘There is sufficient evidence, supported by recommendations from fertility researchers and governmental bodies, to make it advisable for schools to have and enforce policies that remove cell phones from students’ pockets during school.’  One teacher thinks it is rude to text in the classroom.

Paper on electromagnetic hypersensitivity

Public discussion about Wi-Fi at the Calais school.  Forum on Wi-Fi health issue, videos 4-6.  A family physician comments "If you had asked me a month ago whether I thought that Wi-Fi was OK to have in the school, I would have said, sure.  ... But (now) my conclusion was based on the research that I was able to look at - we turned off the Wi-Fi in our house after learning about this. I am now removing it from my office". 

Wi-Fi in Schools – Civil Action: United States District Court, District of Oregon, Portland Division, Civil Action No. 3:11-cv-00739-MO.

Mobile phone safety tips worth knowing, taken from 'Discussing mobile phone safety with young people', British Journal of School Nursing.

December 2011

 'The consequences of undervaluing or misjudging the biological effects of long-term, low-level exposure (radiofrequency radiation) could become a critical problem for the public health, especially if genetic effects are involved'US Government report, 1971 Before mobile phones appeared, governments found it easier to be open about the adverse health effects of electromagnetic fields.

The Education Secretary is 'waking up to technology in schools'. But before each school rushes out to buy iPads and iPod touches for their students, they need to consider their legal liabilities with regard to future health damages. If schools force pupils and teachers to use gadgets that emit a possible carcinogen, and are known to alter brain activity, they leave themselves open to future legal liability claims, as well as failing to safeguard pupils.  Academy Trusts and Governing Bodies with legal liability responsibilities need to consider all evidence of harm to pupils and not only rely on advice from the Health Protection Agency. Legal responsibility lies with the employer. When it comes to safeguarding, schools need to ensure that they aren't 
impairing the health and development of children and are allowing them to enter adulthood successfully.  A school is failing to safeguard its pupils if their brain development is damaged or they develop cancer. The educational benefits of technology can still be achieved using safe, wired devices.  Could this be a case of 'fools rushing in where angels fear to tread'?

A paper published in the journal Fertility and Sterility finds that the use of laptop computers connected to internet through Wi-Fi decreases human sperm motility and increases sperm DNA fragmentation. This is the full paper of the abstract published in 2010.  Sperm were exposed to an average of around 6.8milliW/m(2) radiofrequency radiation for four hours.  The HPA have found that children in schools are exposed to up to 22milliW/m(2) at 0.5 metres from a wireless laptop.  So we now have the majority of children in the UK having to use a technology in the classroom which has been shown to damage human DNA, as well as alter human brain activity (at 0.6milliW/m(2)).  The problem could be solved by using fibre-optic or Ethernet connections for computers in schools.  It needs Head Teachers to choose to safeguard the health of pupils and teachers.

A paper has been published in the British Journal of School Nursing, entitled 'Discussing mobile phone safety with young people'. It describes evidence for safety concerns and safety tips for students. Highly recommended.

DISCONNECT Trailer. Mobile phones and head tumours, a video by Kevin Kunze.

Lecture at Harvard Law School by Dr. Franz Adlkofer on wireless technologies and institutional corruption. How science can be manipulated to protect products.

November 2011

Parents take children out of Wi-Fi schools.  Parents call for a precautionary approach to wireless technologies in schools.

Wi-Fi-free Wednesdays. Parents are keeping children away from school on Wednesdays, so that they have a break from constant Wi-Fi exposures in the classroom. If you are frustrated with schools not listening to parental concerns, you could take part in the Wi-Fi-free Wednesday movement.

315 non-governmental organizations, 52 scientists and medical doctors and 14 MEPs are concerned over the narrow range of speakers and agenda items for the November 16-18 EU Commission conference on Electromagnetic fields.  They are concerned about a lack of transparency and pluralism in the evaluation of evidence by risk assessment committees. This is a call for conferences, assessments and decisions to honestly reflect the science. Read the letter here.

flyer about Wi-Fi from SSITA, Safe Schools Information Technology Alliance.

Video of Wi-Fi health hazard for studentsParents raise concerns about Wi-Fi in schools.  Spanish website about the use of Wi-Fi in schools.  Science Fair: Students in Canada investigate Wi-Fi in schools.

Comments on Danish mobile phone study in the British Medical Journal.

Wi-Fi, electromagnetic fields and damage to trees.  The First Symposium on the effects of electromagnetic fields on tree health, 2011.  Wi-Fi.

Danish mobile phone study update is published in the British Medical Journal.  Whilst the study concludes that they found no evidence of increased central nervous system (CNS) tumours in people who had a personal mobile phone subscription up until 1995, the study has serious flaws.  Article in the Telegraph.  The lack of increase in CNS tumour risks may have been due to the early non-subscriber group including some mobile phone users up to 1995 and mobile and cordless phone users from 1996 to 2007.  However, the authors did find a significant increase (158% increase) of cancers of the cerebral ventricles in the subscriber group, but based on only a few people.  The authors write ‘results from in vivo and in vitro studies do not provide convincing evidence for an effect of exposure to radio frequency electromagnetic fields at non-thermal intensity levels on carcinogenicity or genotoxicity’. This opinion is in complete contrast to the conclusion of a recent review on microwave radiation and cancer growth by Yakymenko et al, where they write ‘a number of reports revealed that under certain conditions the irradiation by low intensity microwaves can substantially induce cancer progression in humans and in animal models’ and ‘Taken together, we state here that nowadays there is enough convincing data to appropriately assert that the long-term exposure to low intensity electromagnetic microwaves can indeed promote cancer development’

October 2011

Parents are concerned about Wi-Fi in Vancouver schools, Canada.  MEPs call for EU-wide action to reduce cancer risk from mobile phones. A video of the 2008 US Congressional Hearing on mobile phone safety and tumour risks.  Wi-Fi is mentioned at 33 and 39 minutes.  More than two and a half years later, the WHO classified radiofrequency radiation as possible carcinogen.

A new paper published in Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine demonstrates that children and small adults absorb significantly more mobile phone phone radiation than had been previously understood.  The authors are calling for mobile phones to be manufactured without the ability to hold the phone against the head. The government's £3billion conflict of interest.  How can the government admit the potential adverse health effects of Wi-Fi when they are hoping to make £3billion by auctioning off the 4G frequencies, which include Wi-Fi.  Schools have a responsibility to provide a safe environment in the school and take conflicts of interest into account.  Responsibility for safety lies with the employer (the Local Authority, Governing Body or Academy Trust).  Academies have responsibility for all health and safety liabilities.

Another school in Ontario (Canada) removes Wi-Fi because of health concerns. 

Mobile phone retailers in San Francisco now need to display a poster from the Department of the Environment in a prominent place, visible to the public.  An accompanying factsheet warns that mobile phones emit a potential carcinogen and gives tips for reducing exposures.

Is Wi-Fi making kids and teachers sick? Article from the Toronto Sun, Canada.

We need honest science if we want to protect public health: 'Mobile phones and cancer risks. Scientists manipulated research – played down brain tumour risks in children' by Kerstin Stenberg & Mona Nilsson.  Also, 'Science is often misused by government and industry for selfish purposes. The truth about the biological effects of radio frequency radiation is heavily suppressed' Professor Franz Adlkofer.

An excellent video on You Tube showing the microwave exposures that children are exposed to when using wireless laptops in the classroom.  

Two new studies have found that electromagnetic fields from Wi-Fi transmitters can alter electrical brain activity and decrease a measure of attention in young adults when performing a memory task. These are the first reports to look at the effects of Wi-Fi on brain function.  The attractiveness of Wi-Fi as a learning tool in schools is significantly decreased if it could be damaging the cognitive abilities and brain development of pupils.  More information here

More parents in Canada are concerned about Wi-Fi in schools.

Unions have voted unanimously against the deployment of Wi-Fi in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, in accordance with the Precautionary Principle and equal treatment in access to library services.

Childhood is being eroded, with children spending more time indoors with screen-based technology, rather than in active outdoor activity and play. A group of more than 200 experts are calling for action.  Letter here.

September 2011

A school in Ontario, Canada has removed Wi-Fi from its school, after having researched the potential health risks. Listen to an interview with the school principal here.  The interview starts after a short introduction, but is worth listening to.  An article is here.  Some schools in the UK have removed Wi-Fi because of health concerns, but we are interested in hearing from any Head Teachers who would like discuss how they can provide a safe environment in their school whilst maintaining excellence in ICT.  Please get in touch. 

Article about Wi-Fi in schools from New Zealand.

'You and Yours' on BBC Radio 4 talks about the Nationwide campaign warning men not to keep their mobile phone in their trouser pocket (27 minutes into the programme, 1st September 2011).  The discussion referred to a review published in the Journal of Andrology (paper is available in full here).  The paper concludes: 'The results show that human spermatozoa exposed to RF-EMR (radio frequency electromagnetic radiation) have decreased motility, morphometric abnormalities, and increased oxidative stress, whereas men using mobile phones have decreased sperm concentration, motility (particularly the rapid progressive one), normal morphology, and viability. These abnormalities seem to be directly related with the length of mobile phone use.'  Campaign poster. Yes, Wi-Fi also damages sperm.

Two new studies have found that electromagnetic fields from Wi-Fi transmitters can alter electrical brain activity and decrease a measure of attention in young adults when performing a memory task. These are the first reports to look at the effects of Wi-Fi on brain function.  The attractiveness of Wi-Fi as a learning tool in schools is significantly decreased if it could be damaging the cognitive abilities and brain development of pupils.  More information here

August 2011

Chief Executive of Apple resigns over ill health, having previously suffered from pancreatic cancer. In 2001 the British Medical Association warned that radio waves from mobile phones might damage internal organs when texting. The IARC have classified radio frequency radiation as potentially carcinogenicWi-Fi can damage DNA. Could abdominal cancers be caused by using Apple's iPhone or iPad too much? It is certainly possible.  Should children be using them in school until we know they are safe?

Adolescent brain tumours and mobile phones - Dr Magda Havas highlights the importance of reading the detail in a scientific paper.  Increased risk of brain tumours in children and adolescents after relatively short periods of exposure

Very weak radio frequency signals show promise for treating inoperable liver cancer.  Radio frequency electromagnetic fields have potential therapeutic applications as well as damaging effects on the body; low powers can also damage normal cells in the brain (1, 2, 3, 4).  Radiotherapy with ionizing radiation, currently used to treat cancers, damages the DNA in cancer cells as well as in healthy cells.  Radio frequency signals can also damage DNA.

Technology addiction. Sixty six percent of Americans sleep with their smartphones by their side.  Twenty one percent would rather go shoeless before giving up thier phones.

Professor Oleg Grigoriev, Director of the Russian Centre for Electromagnetic Safety, Head of the of Laboratory "Radiobiology and Hygiene for Non-Ionizing Radiation" of the Federal Medical-Biological Agency of Russia and Vice-Chairman of the Russian National Committee on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (RCNIRP) has kindly offered wifiinschools.org.uk his view on the use of wireless technologies in schools:
"Our Committee and I are personally against the use of Wi-Fi systems in schools. Professor Yury Grigoriev (chairman of the RCNIRP) has the same opinion. The reason is that it forms a very complex form of electromagnetic field, but in this case the probability of biological effect is higher than when the same total dose is created by one source of unmodulated electromagnetic field. This pattern is for non-thermal electromagnetic fields. There are very good studies that have shown that prolonged exposure to low-intensity radio waves in children disturbed cognitive function, and we trust this research."

Writing in the British Medical Journal, Consultant Neurosurgeon Kevin O'Neill calls for medical practitioners and medical professional bodies to play a role in ensuring that action is taken to protect children from electro-magnetic radiation emitted by wireless equipment.  Letter here

July 2011

Mobile phones and Wi-Fi technologies emit a class 2B carcinogen.  The Trades Union Congress say: 'trade unions believe the aim should be to remove all exposure to any known or suspected carcinogen in the workplace.'  'Caution should be used to prevent exposure to substances in Group 2B.'  'The regulations are clear: that the first aim should always be to remove the hazard.'  'Management Regulations and COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health) lay down clear principles for prevention that must be followed when deciding what to do about a potential hazard. This means the first step must always be, where possible, to remove the hazard altogether – removing any cancer-causing hazards from the workplace.'  'There is a legal requirement on employers to only use a carcinogen if there is no reasonable alternative.'  Employers can provide safe alternatives to Wi-Fi in schools - they can provide wired computing facilities for staff and pupils, thereby removing a potential cancer-causing hazard.

Allan Frey and the inconvenient truth about radio frequency radiation.

Radio frequency-producing antennas that are essential for the wireless world could be the next asbestos for the insurance industry.

Robin Des Toits in France are calling for Wi-Fi to be banned in educational institutions.

Video from TodayTonight on 'mobile phone cancer danger'. Brain and head tumour sufferers are calling for under 16s not to use mobile phones and for adults to only text or use speakerphone. Please share with young people. Cordless phones also increase the risk of brain tumours.  For advice from neurosurgeons and doctors about safer mobile phone use, see this leaflet.

Five hundred social groups in Spain are calling for Wi-Fi to be banned in schools, along with the exposure limits to be revised in law.   

A parent is suing Portland Public School System (PPS) in America, for installing Wi-Fi in public school buildings.  The plaintiff contends that PPS policy of using Wi-Fi in their schools impinges on his rights and fundamental liberties under the Fourteenth Amendment to the care and control of his child's health and continued well being. The plaintiff will seek an injunction to stop the use of Wi-Fi immediately until the case is resolved by the courts Press Release is here.  Further information, including memorandum, injunction and declarations, here.  Dr David Carpenter commented in his expert witness declaration 'There is a major difference between an exposure that an individual chooses to accept and one that is forced on an individual who can do nothing about it, especially a child.  The evidence for adverse effects of radiofrequency radiation is currently strong (beyond just a known controversy) and grows stronger with each new study.'

June 2011

Are Smart meters killing bees? Several researchers have reported disruption to bees from mobile phones(1, 2, 3, 4).  Low power or short duration microwaves have been found to damage DNA and fertility in other insects (1, 2, 3, 4). Perhaps wireless, microwave technologies could be contributing to the decline of pollinating insects?  Wouldn't it be worth even finding out before installing transmitters everywhere?  Humans have the ability to ask great questions, investigate them, debate them, and then to act on the information gained.  Let's find out first. 

Is 'popcorn brain' the result of hours spent on the internet or the microwave radiation from wireless internet computers/phones, or perhaps a bit of both? 'Researchers in China did MRIs on the brains of 18 college students who spent about 10 hours a day online.  Compared with a control group who spent less than two hours a day online, these students had less gray matter, the thinking part of the brain.' Published here. We already know that exposure of rats to microwave radiation from wireless technologies decreases the number of neurones in some regions of the brain, both for adults and for the offspring when exposed during pregnancy.

20th-26th June is Child Safety Week. A perfect opportunity to discuss mobile phone and Wi-Fi safety with children and young people. The poster from the Vienna Medical Association lists useful tips for improving safety. Other resources can be found in 'Wireless technologies and young people'

Wifiinschools.org.uk and Families magazine have written example letters to send to schools, Members of Parliament and Members of the European Parliament, calling for actions following the Council of Europe Resolution.  Please use them, add your details at the top, change them where you want, but send them to your school and MPs.  We need action following the recent recommendations from the Council of Europe and WHO.  MPs and MEPs can be found here.  Thank you for your help. 

British Medical Journal article about the Council of Europe recommendations for Wi-Fi in schools.

Chairman of the WHO IARC working group, Jonathan Samet, has commented "the group 2B designation was not limited to cell phones. It has 'broad applicability' to all sources of radiofrequency radiation" (which includes Wi-Fi).

The World Health Organization, International Agency for Research on Cancer, has classified radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans (group 2B), 31st May 2011.  Press Release can be found here.  This was based on an increase in glioma, a malignant type of brain cancer, associated with wireless phone use.  News reports are concentrating on mobile phones.  But the IARC statement includes all wireless phones and states that radiofrequency electromagnetic fields are potentially carcinogenic, based on studies from radar, microwaves, TV, radio, wireless communications as well as wireless phones.

May 2011

The Council of Europe calls on governments to reduce exposures to electromagnetic fields and ensure that schools use wired internet connections.

The Council of Europe Standing Committee has adopted, on behalf of the Council of Europe Assembly, the resolution brought forward by the Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs (27th May 2011).  The wording of the resolution has been changed and can be found here.  The Council of Europe advise European member states: 

8.3.2. for children in general, and particularly in schools and classrooms, give preference to wired Internet connections, and strictly regulate the use of mobile phones by schoolchildren on school premises.
8.3.1. develop within different ministries (education, environment and health) targeted information campaigns aimed at teachers, parents and children to alert them to the specific risks of early, ill-considered and prolonged use of mobiles and other devices emitting microwaves.

The Council of Europe (Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local Regional Affairs) has made recommendations for all member states in Europe regarding the potential dangers of electromagnetic fields.  In the resolution, which was adopted unanimously by the Committee on the 11th April, they recommended:

(8.3.2) that mobile phones, DECT phones or Wi-Fi or WLAN systems are banned from classrooms and schools

(8.3.1) that education, environment and health ministries develop information campaigns aimed at teachers, parents and children to alert them to the risks of the use of mobile phones and other microwave emitting devices The whole report is worth reading (here).  Articles from the Telegraph, Metro, Mail.

Wi-Fi and mobile phones in schools are discussed on 'You and Yours'.  The comparison in the interview of mobile communication technologies with traditional radio signals, doesn't take into account the proximity to the transmitters (next to the body for mobile phones and Wi-Fi-enabled gadgets), or that effects have been reported when close to radio transmitters, such as increases in cases of leukaemia

The International Agency for Research on Cancer has dropped one of its panel of experts after revelations that he was also a director in his brother's company, with links to the telecommunications industry.  Governing bodies and Local Authorities also need to take care with conflicts of interest when making assessments about risks from the use of wireless technologies in schools. 

WHO mobile phone cancer risk cover up.

More evidence that mobile phone radiation damages DNA, brain and sperm.

Two new papers show a link between tumours and mobile phones. See Microwave News, Short Takes, May 24.

The Russian National Committee on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection has passed a resolution entitled 'Electromagnetic fields from mobile phones: health effect on children and teenagers'.  The resolution describes an increase in childhood diseases since the year 2000, and their possible link to mobile phone use.  Recommendations include: a requirement for courses in schools on mobile phone use and issues concerning electromagnetic field exposure; limits on mobile telecommunications use by children and adolescents, including a ban on all types of advertising. 

A paper published in the International Journal of Maxillofacial Surgery has found a significant association between long-term and heavy use of mobile phones and cancers of the salivary gland (mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the parotid gland).  The authors, Duan et al (2011), found a 20 fold increased risk of cancer with mobile phone use for 7-8 years.  The authors recommend larger-scale studies.  This follows the publication in 2008 of a significant association between  salivary gland tumours and mobile phone use by Sadetzki et al.

A study of a possible link between leukaemia and mobile phone use reported an increased risk after 15 years of use (1.87 fold increased risk, Cooke et al., 2010), although the data didn't reach significance. Further studies are needed to see whether significance is reached with a larger population or a longer duration of use. This raises the possibility of increases in cancers following mobile phone use other than those associated with the brain, head or neck.  Studies are also needed into whether Wi-Fi exposures can increase the risk of developing leukaemia.

Cardis and Sadetzki recommended in the British Medical Journal (March 2011) that until definitive scientific answers are available for a link between mobile phones and cancer, precautionary actions are advisable, particularly for young people. 

April 2011

The Radiation Research Trust campaign 'Save the Male' is warning men not to carry their mobile phones in their trouser pockets as it can affect their fertility.

A new website, Mobilewise, is helping young people to reduce the potential risks to their health when using mobile phones.

A shortened version of the Panorama programme about Wi-Fi in schools is available here (7 minutes).  Other resources to pass on to schools can be found on the Actions page.

March 2011

The Department of Health has released a new version of its leaflet 'Mobile Phones and Base Stations'.  The UK Chief Medical Officers still advise that children and young people under the age of 16 should be encouraged to use mobile phones for essential purposes only.

A cafe sets an example by removing Wi-Fi and providing wired internet access for its customers.

February 2011

Wireless technologies and young people - A resource for schools, January 2011.  A document for schools, containing guidance from the Department of Health and NHS Direct, resources for discussing mobile phone safety with young people, international advice, frequently asked questions, suggestions for best practice in educational settings and extracts from research studies.  Please pass on to Schools, Parent Teacher Associations and Governing Bodies. Flyer.

The Scientific Panel on Electromagnetic Health Risks has published their recommendations in the journal 'Reviews on Environmental Health'.  'The Panel recommends wired internet access in schools, and strongly recommends that schools do not install wireless internet connections that create pervasive and prolonged electromagnetic field exposures for children'.  Their provisional recommended exposure limit for radio frequency radiation is lower than that experienced by users of Wi-Fi-enabled technologies.  Further information1 and further information2.

A bill has been introduced in Oregon, USA, to put health warnings on mobile phones and their packaging.

Dr David Carpenter, M.D., and Professor Olle Johansson have written letters about the dangers of Wi-Fi in schools.

January 2011

Does long-term use of mobile phones lead to brain tumours? Science Daily, January 2011.

Dr. Martin Blank from Columbia University, USA, explains some of the mechanisms by which the electromagnetic fields from mobile phones and Wi-Fi can affect cells.  "We must insist on the testing of new devices...  Just because we allow microwaves, doesn't mean that Wi-Fi at the same frequency should be allowed into all classrooms."

The International Commission for Electromagnetic Safety has published a collection of scientific papers in the International Journal of Oncology, 2010: 'Non-thermal effects and mechanisms of interaction between electromagnetic fields and living matter'. It is available in full, online.  It describes effects of microwave radiation at exposures experienced by users of wireless technologies and discusses mechanisms of action.  It includes: the mechanisms by which electromagnetic fields can produce oxidative stress (e.g. increasing free radicals) from Professor Georgiou, p.63; the dependence of non-thermal effects of microwaves on physical and biological conditions, Dr Belyaev p. 187; effects of mobile phone radiation on cognition, Dr Fragopoulou and Professor Margaritis, p.261; effect of cordless phones on heart rate variability, Dr Havas et al., p.273; absorption of radiation into the heads of children, Dr Han et al., p.301; effects on the blood-brain barrier, Professor Salford et al., p.333 and Professor Seyhan et al., p.319; cancer risks of radiation from wireless phones Dr Hardell, p.363.  Worth a look!

Professor Behari talks about effects of mobile phones on male fertility.

Mobile phones and cancer. Professor Hardell describes in the International Journal of Epidemiology how the International Interphone study published last year underestimated the risks of brain tumours associated with mobile phone use

December 2010

letter from a parent to a school principal about Wi-Fi in schools.

On 22nd November 2010 the Environment and Health Committee of the Israeli Parliament called on the Government to adopt the recommendations of a technical committee to reduce and to prevent exposure to electromagnetic radiation of students in schools, due to concerns of potential effects on health.  The recommendations include:  Wired computer networks in schools will be preferred over wireless networksSchools should have wired landline telephones for students to use.  Schools should consider establishing special areas where mobile phones can be used and limiting the use of mobile phones elsewhere (similar to smoking areas).  Schools should ensure that teachers use cell phones only in the staff room or allocated areas.  The Committee noted that students are exposed to wireless technologies against their will because they are committed by law to a compulsory school education.  The Committee agreed that there is a moral obligation for the education system and State to protect the health of its students.

A discussion about parents removing children from Wi-Fi schools.

More from epidemiologist Dr Devra Davis on mobile phones - London 2010.

Does Wi-Fi damage trees?  Researchers at Wageningen University in the Netherlands exposed trees to Wi-Fi access points at a distance of 50cms, 2.412-2.417GHz frequency and 100mW power (similar to Wi-Fi transmitters in schools) for three to six months.  The leaves pointing towards the radiation source had a discoloration of the leaves that appeared to result in the disappearance of the outer cell layer of the leaves. This was followed by desiccation and death of a portion of the leaf.

November 2010

Public concern over Wi-Fi in schools, mobile phone base stations near schools and wireless smart meters:

The School Board in Victoria, Canada is setting up a committee to look into health effects of Wi-Fi in classrooms.  Parents have taken their children out of a school in Ontario, Canada, because of concerns about the effects of long-term exposure to electromagnetic fields from Wi-Fi transmitters.

Even though the Government's Stewart report in 2000 recommended that the beam of greatest intensity from mobile phone base stations should not fall on or near school grounds, parents and schools are still having to fight to stop the placement of masts near schools.  Recent examples include Watford and Weymouth, UK.  Industry repeatedly claims that there are no known health risks to children or adults living near a mobile phone mast.  But a recent publication in the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health disagrees.  Neurosurgeon, Dr Khurana and colleagues found that eight out of ten epidemiological studies found adverse neurobehavioural symptoms or cancer for people living near base stations.

Should schools insist on smart meters or utility monitors having wired connections?  Several regions in the US have been concerned enough to introduce a moratorium on wireless smart meters.  The meters emit short duration electromagnetic pulses of very high strength.  One measurement found the pulses to be almost a 1000 times more powerful than signals from a mobile phone.  It may be these high power signals that are the most relevant biologically, and not the lower time-averaged exposures often quoted. Smart meters in the news.

Anna's Message: 'A mobile phone caused my brain tumour'EMFacts describe the Australian Today Tonight TV programme (text) where 27 year old Anna talks about her aggressive brain tumour.  She and her neurosurgeon Dr Teo consider it likely that the tumour is a result of her heavy mobile phone use.

A Canadian school removes all wireless technologies.  A copy of the statement sent from the school Principal to the Parliamentary Health Committee.

October 2010

Dr Avendaño and colleagues presented their findings that wireless laptops decrease human sperm motility and damage human sperm DNA, at the meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (abstract; 27th October 2010).

The Canadian Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health discussed the safety of Wi-Fi in schools on the 28th October 2010.  The Committee heard from expert witnesses from both sides of the argument.  Beth Pietersen from Health Canada stated that whilst Health Canada were not themselves carrying out any studies into the safety of Wi-Fi in schools, they were following the thorough investigations being carried out by the UK Health Protection Agency (HPA).  However, the UK HPA has only measured radiation levels in schools, and is not monitoring potential health effects.  It would appear that no one is monitoring the health effects of Wi-Fi in schools, except the parents.  Standing Committee meeting in the news: video.

Microwave News warns against turning to gizmos which claim to protect you from the microwaves emitted by wireless transmitters.

Parents vote to remove Wi-Fi from a school in Ontario, Canada. 

Global National News 16:9, Canada, report on Wi-Fi in schools. In the video (17th October 2010) Dr Havas demonstrates that a Wi-Fi router can cause cardiac arrhythmia and tachycardia in some people.  Dr Carpenter, MD, says "You don't want to wait until you can count the bodies before you tell the public that there is a serious potential of harm. And with regard to the issue of Wi-Fi in schools, this is exactly where we are".  Hérouville St. Clair in France leads the way by removing Wi-Fi in schools and putting in state of the art fibre optic networks.  In 2007, the UK Panorama programme 'A Warning Signal' raised some of the issues now being debated in Canada about Wi-Fi in schools.

In schools, children and young people have no choice about their exposure to mobile phones, Wi-Fi enabled devices and other microwave emitting transmitters.  But for personal use, we can choose how or if we use wireless technologies.  This week some families who have experienced brain tumours spoke out at a press conference in San Francisco about mobile phone risks. 

Dr Jerry Phillips, Director of the Science Learning Centre and Professor of Chemistry, University of Colorado, discusses some of the issues which lead some people to decide that wireless technologies are not safe and others to decide that they are: the meaning of 'weight of evidence', possible mechanisms of action and understanding studies from different laboratories.

Mobile phone manual guidance and a CBC interview with Dr Devra Davis about her book 'Disconnect'.

September 2010

'Disconnect', a new book written by Dr Devra Davis, is available from 23rd September 2010.  The Truth about mobile phone radiation and how to protect your family.  This is highly recommended.

More leadings scientists comment on scientific inaccuracies in the Welsh Assembly Government's leaflets on mobile phone safety.  A call for young people to be given scientifically accurate information

August 2010

A court in Bresica (Northern Italy) has judged that a brain tumour of an employee was caused by use of a cordless (DECT) and/or mobile phone in the workplace.  The individual has been awarded an 80% disability pension and the employer has to pay court costs.  Employees in Italy can now insist that employers supply corded phones and they can advise their employer that they will be legally liable for future damages should they insist on the use of a cordless phone.  Further information

Wi-Fi-enabled laptops have been found to reduce sperm motility and damage sperm DNA in men.  This is not surprising given the previous studies on male fertility (Scientific Research), but it is the first report with wireless laptops.  Damage to sperm DNA, or for women damage to DNA in the ovarian follicles or the embryo/foetus during pregnancy could affect development of the next generation.  For children, who may be absorbing up to ten times more radiation than adults into their bone marrow, damage to DNA could potentially lead to cancers.  A precautionary approach would be not to use a wireless laptop on your lap, not to use one when pregnant, for wired connections to be used whenever possible and for only wired connections to be used for laptops or computers in schools.

Microwave exposures within the range of those experienced by users of wireless laptops cause abnormal development and death of tadpoles (1.8-3.5V/m) and DNA damage and reduced reproductive capacity in fruit flies (maximum at 6.1V/m, decreasing down to 1.9V/m radio frequency).

July 2010

The Welsh Assembly Government has produced leaflets offering mobile phone guidance for primary and secondary school children.  But leading international scientists have reacted, saying that the information is scientifically incorrect and misleading.  "Surely the children of Wales deserve to have high quality health advice which is scientifically correct."  "In the light of the scientific opinions and inaccuracies I hope you will withdraw and redraft these leaflets."  Click here for details.  It should be possible for Wales to provide young people with accurate and balanced precautionary advice

Full Signal the movie is out on DVD.

Simcoe County Safe School Committee in Canada are monitoring the health of pupils in wireless schools.

Dr. Martin Blank talks about the inadequacy of current standards for electromagnetic exposure from cell phones and other electronic and electrical devices. 

San Francisco to make mobile phone SAR values available at the point of sale. This follows France's decision to do the same, as well as including information that overuse of the device may carry health risks

Open letter about the compulsory use of mobile phones and other wireless technologies in the classroom (UK).  Please pass on the letter (page 1) and the links page (page 2) to schools.

June 2010

France bans the use of mobile phones by pupils in all kindergartens, elementary schools and colleges (up to ages 15-17).  All mobile phones sold in France must also mention that overuse of the device may carry health risks.  Article 72, Assemblée Nationale May 11th 2010 (translation).  Sénat vote, Article 72, 8th October 2009 (translation).

May 2010

International Interphone study into a possible link between mobile phone use and tumours is published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.  Microwave news comment.  Increased risks of gliomas were found for high mobile phone use (>1640 hours of cumulative call time).  With children's bodies absorbing more radiation than adults', risks are likely to be higher in children. But controversy over study design, bias and flaws limit the conclusions.  Future studies need careful planning and choice of meaningful controls that take into account exposure to cordless phones and other wireless technologies

Absorption of radiation from wireless technologies into the brain and bone marrow of children: Time to start talking sense.

Dr Kesari, Director of Neuro-Oncology at the Moores Cancer Centre at UC San Diego USA, talks about long-term mobile phone use and the increased risk of developing brain tumours.

Next-up Organisation publish a 1973 Canadian Research document which describes microwave radiation as a potential threat to human health. 

April 2010

Wi-Fi security problems.

A call for courageous ministers to follow the precautionary principle, where there is evidence of harm to public health.

Study published in PNAS describes how a magnetic field applied behind the right ear can disrupt human moral judgements and risk taking. Could mobile phones also alter moral judgements, in particular with respect to attempted harm?

Preliminary study finds that 2.4GHz microwaves affect the heart, causing arrhythmia and tachycardia (irregular and rapid heart rate) in some people.  Exposures were within the range of those experienced by users of wireless laptops: 3microW/cm(2), or 30milliW/m(2).

March 2010

March 2010 is Brain Tumour Awareness month.  Braintumourresearch.org is asking people to wear a hat for a day in March to raise awareness of brain cancers.  Brain tumours now kill more people under the age of 40 than any other cancer.  Article about brain tumours and mobile phone use.  Neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo, videos on brain tumours, part 1 and part 2.

Debate about the safety of wireless technologies.

Rehab clinic for technology addicts.

February 2010

 Leaflet about the exposure of children and adolescents to mobile phones and wireless technologies.  Supported by the Austrian Medical Association and Physicians for a Healthy Environment. 

GQ Magazine reports on mobile phone and wireless technology health risks (Feb 2010).

Living in a Wireless World - pregnancy, fertility and children in wireless times.

Videos for teenagers describe how mobile phones can be used more safely and what the potential risks are. These are highly recommended. An excellent resource for schools to stimulate discussion about an issue which affects the majority of young people today.

January 2010

Open letter from Professor Havas about wireless routers in schools (Jan 2010).

December 2009

'Full Signal', the movie, wins Best Documentary award at the Myrtle Beach International Film Festival.  See film website and trailers. Film screenings from early 2010 and DVD available from June 2010.

November 2009

Public concern about radiation from Wi-Fi and mobile phone mast transmitters. Parents in Formby and Stockton (see Video, Mac version) petition, campaign against and remove children from wireless schools.  Massive public protest in Stuttgart over phone masts and in Nantes over masts and Wi-Fi in schools.

International Conference on Electromagnetic Fields and Health, 17th November 2009, Stavanger, Norway. Website and Press Release.

October 2009

French Health and Security Agency recommend reducing exposure to mobile phones and other wireless devices.  France to ban mobiles in schools.  Cancers are linked to long-term mobile phone use.  Maine set to introduce warning labels on cell phones.  But Mick Brookes from the National Association of Head Teachers wants mobile phones to be used by pupils in the classroom.

Mobile communication technologies decrease male fertility and damage sperm DNA (Scientific Research). Will the countries with the highest exposures to Wi-Fi, WiMAX or mobile phone mast transmitters suffer the highest rates of infertility and genetic abnormalities in future generations?     

International scientists express concern about exposure to radio frequency electromagnetic fields in the Porto Alegre Resolution. 'The ... use of Wi-Fi, WiMAX, or any other form of wireless communications technology ... shall preferably not include siting or signal transmission in residencies, schools, day-care centres, senior centres, hospitals or any other buildings where people spend considerable time'.

September 2009

Health Protection Agency (HPA) announce their measurements of microwave emissions from individual wireless laptops, similar to those used in schools (see Wi-Fi exposures and guidelines).  A teachers' union remains concerned.  Powerwatch and Mast Sanity also comment.  The HPA will go on to use this information for a wider health risk review.

A new website, Wiredchild.

A link between mobile phones and cancer?

August 2009

Are we living in the 'Age of Stupid'? Is a sustainable future one where we damage wildlife, bees needed for pollination, human health and the DNA needed for healthy future generations?

A Telecom Strategy described by a former company Environment Manager.

June/July 2009

The Israeli Government bans marketing of home Wi-Fi products as a precautionary measure.  The Environment Minister said that "the health consideration comes before any economic consideration" (16.7.09). 

The UK Government outlines its plans for a wireless, digital Britain despite scientific warnings of a future public health crisis and environmental damage.

How independent are the decision makers? Former Government Health Minister, Patricia Hewitt, receives £75,000 from British Telecom (Sunday Telegraph, 28.6.09).  

May 2009

Teachers' Unions still concerned about wireless technologies (May 2009).

Schools in France and a Paris University remove Wi-Fi (International concerns).