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November 25, 2017: \u00a0At home and at work, dozens of wireless networks are streaming invisible radio waves through your space and body. (So are the phones, computers, Bluetooth speakers and other devices that connect to them.) It\u2019s logical to wonder\u2014and worry\u2014about what effect all that wireless energy might have on your health.<\/p>\n
But while the volume and ubiquity of wireless devices is a new phenomenon, the kind of radiation they produce has been the subject of scientific scrutiny for decades, says John Moulder, professor emeritus of radiation oncology at the Medical College of Wisconsin.<\/p>\n
In 2013, Moulder coauthored a review of the existing health research on Wi-Fi. Like your mobile phone, Wi-Fi routers send and receive information using radio waves, which are a form of electromagnetic radiation, he says.<\/p>\n
The research on radio waves and human health goes back at least to the 1950s, when there were concerns about Navy servicemen being exposed to powerful shipboard radar. \u201cWe have 50 or 60 years of research into the kind of radiation associated with Wi-Fi,\u201d Moulder says.<\/p>\n
All that research has taught us that at high frequencies, electromagnetic radiation can promote tumor growth and cancer. The sun\u2019s ultraviolet rays and their links to skin cancer are one example. Even at lower frequencies, very high levels of electromagnetic radiation exposure can hurt you. \u201cBut we\u2019re talking skin burns, not cancer or tumors,\u201d says Kenneth Foster, a professor of bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
Foster was Moulder\u2019s coauthor on that 2013 review of Wi-Fi\u2019s health effects. He says that, based on our current understanding of radio wave strengths and risks, world health authorities have set safety standards for all devices and appliances that emit electromagnetic radiation\u2014from phones and microwaves to your car\u2019s keyless entry fob. \u201cThe exposure you get from your Wi-Fi router is orders and orders of magnitude below those safety limits,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n
Asked for specifics, Foster says it helps to understand how Wi-Fi works. While most people assume their wireless router is constantly sending and receiving information, Foster says these devices actually transmit just 0.1% of the time. \u201cMaybe that goes up somewhat if you\u2019re streaming video,\u201d he says, \u201cbut most of the time your router is just sitting idly waiting for something to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also, every inch you put between yourself and your Wi-Fi router significantly lowers the strength of the radiation your body encounters. \u201cPut it this way,\u201d Foster says. \u201cDuring a call, your mobile phone is transmitting steadily at a strength maybe 100 times more powerful than Wi-Fi, and you\u2019re holding the phone right against your head, and we still don\u2019t find any health issues with that level of exposure.\u201d<\/p>\n
That may be true today. But some experts have grave concerns about the types of low-intensity radiation our wireless devices produce. \u201cWe have animal studies suggesting even low-level exposures to the kind of radio wave radiation associated with Wi-Fi could have a variety of negative health effects,\u201d says Joel Moskowitz, director of the Center for Family and Community Health at the University of California, Berkeley. (Moskowitz has collected much of that research here.)<\/p>\n
He mentions neurodevelopmental issues, cancer, and reproductive harm\u2014in both men and women\u2014as some of those potential health concerns, especially for pregnant women and young children.<\/p>\n
The World Health Organization and the International Agency for Research on Cancer have classified mobile phones as a \u201cpossible carcinogen,\u201d which means there\u2019s currently not enough research to say whether either causes cancer.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, a rodent study found heavy exposures to cell phone radiation increased rats\u2019 risks for some brain and heart tumors. More rodent research has tied high levels of Wi-Fi and cell exposure to hormonal shifts and oxidative stress\u2014the kind of shifts that could promote cancer or brain diseases.<\/p>\n
But many of these animal studies are \u201call over the place\u201d in terms of their design quality, Foster says. Animal research often does not translate to humans. Also, many of the most worrying experiments involved rodents that had been exposed to levels of radiation far greater than what people encounter when using mobile phones or wireless networks.<\/p>\n
Moskowitz doesn\u2019t disagree with Moulder. But he says the amount of radio wave radiation people\u2014and especially children\u2014are exposed to today is different, and this raises new concerns. When it comes to our long-term, cumulative exposures to all our wireless networks and gadgets, \u201cwe\u2019re basically flying blind,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Of course, trying to avoid radio wave exposure is more or less impossible if you live in modern society. Moskowitz advises keeping wireless devices away from your body and turning off wireless networks when they\u2019re not in use. While any health risks are still theoretical, \u201cI think trying to minimize exposure is the best advice at this point,\u201d Moskowitz adds.<\/p>\n
This article originally appeared on \u00a0TIME Health.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
November 25, 2017: \u00a0At home and at work, dozens of wireless networks are streaming invisible radio waves through your space and body. (So are the phones, computers, Bluetooth speakers and other devices that connect to them.) It\u2019s logical to wonder\u2014and worry\u2014about what effect all that wireless energy might have on your health. But while the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[89],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n