..................................................................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Barrie ON parents demand schools turn off WiFi
There have been a couple of recent incidents in Ontario in which small vocal groups parents and teachers have attempted to have Wi-Fi banned from public schools and libraries. These incidents attracted a fair bit of media attention. We are including several links below to articles that have appeared in the media and on the web in connection with this. Click on each link to access the full text of the original article. Fortunately in both recent instances, reason prevailed and students were not denied the tremendous benefits of wireless Internet access.
The first article in appeared in the Globe and Mail and it describes the efforts of a small group of parents in Barrie Ontario to have Wi-Fi Internet service turned off in their schools. They complained that their children were suffering from a host of general symptoms that are similar to so called electrohypersensitivy. As explained on our web page on EHS, there is no credible scientific evidence that Wi-Fi or any other source of EMF can cause EHS.
One noteworthy aspect of this is that the concerns of these parents were egged on by the well known alarmist Magda Havas. See the "open letter" from Havas below. See our web page with a critique of Havas.
There have been a couple of recent incidents in Ontario in which small vocal groups parents and teachers have attempted to have Wi-Fi banned from public schools and libraries. These incidents attracted a fair bit of media attention. We are including several links below to articles that have appeared in the media and on the web in connection with this. Click on each link to access the full text of the original article. Fortunately in both recent instances, reason prevailed and students were not denied the tremendous benefits of wireless Internet access.
The first article in appeared in the Globe and Mail and it describes the efforts of a small group of parents in Barrie Ontario to have Wi-Fi Internet service turned off in their schools. They complained that their children were suffering from a host of general symptoms that are similar to so called electrohypersensitivy. As explained on our web page on EHS, there is no credible scientific evidence that Wi-Fi or any other source of EMF can cause EHS.
One noteworthy aspect of this is that the concerns of these parents were egged on by the well known alarmist Magda Havas. See the "open letter" from Havas below. See our web page with a critique of Havas.
Open Letter from Magda Havas
This is an open letter from leading alarmist Magda Havas expressing concerns about the possible health effects of Wi-Fi in libraries on public health. She cites a number of flawed and discredited studies and sources to back up this concern. For example she cited a poorly done study by Lee et al. on gene expression, which has been disproved by far more rigorous studies such the Analysis of gene expression study conducted by Health Canada. This study (see our summary) used the latest state of the art equipment and monitored the activity level of 22,000 genes. No significant changes in gene expression were found. Also see our web page with a critique of Havas' own studies. It is noteworthy that, as Havas states, the French National Library has maintained its ban on Wi-Fi, but the municipal libraries in Paris had the good sense to reverse on earlier decision and to restore Wi-Fi service to the Paris municipal libraries. We believe this open letter from Havas was used by the concerned parents in Barrie, and is cited in the Globe and Mail article.
This is an open letter from leading alarmist Magda Havas expressing concerns about the possible health effects of Wi-Fi in libraries on public health. She cites a number of flawed and discredited studies and sources to back up this concern. For example she cited a poorly done study by Lee et al. on gene expression, which has been disproved by far more rigorous studies such the Analysis of gene expression study conducted by Health Canada. This study (see our summary) used the latest state of the art equipment and monitored the activity level of 22,000 genes. No significant changes in gene expression were found. Also see our web page with a critique of Havas' own studies. It is noteworthy that, as Havas states, the French National Library has maintained its ban on Wi-Fi, but the municipal libraries in Paris had the good sense to reverse on earlier decision and to restore Wi-Fi service to the Paris municipal libraries. We believe this open letter from Havas was used by the concerned parents in Barrie, and is cited in the Globe and Mail article.
Leading Skeptic Dr. Steven Novella on Wi-Fi Issue
The following is a link to a blog by leading scientific skeptic Dr. Steven Novella on the Wi-Fi incident in Barrie. This blog contains an excellent analysis of this issue, and the fact that there is no credible scientific evidence of harm from Wi-Fi. Dr. Novella is an academic clinical neurologist at Yale University School of Medicine. He is also the author of the leading science and medicine blog Neurologica was well as the moderator of the excellent podcast on scientific skepticism: The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe.
The following is a link to a blog by leading scientific skeptic Dr. Steven Novella on the Wi-Fi incident in Barrie. This blog contains an excellent analysis of this issue, and the fact that there is no credible scientific evidence of harm from Wi-Fi. Dr. Novella is an academic clinical neurologist at Yale University School of Medicine. He is also the author of the leading science and medicine blog Neurologica was well as the moderator of the excellent podcast on scientific skepticism: The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe.
Why We Shouldn't Worry
The following excellent article on the WiFi issue appeared in the National Post. Scott Stinson, the author of this article checked into the questionable credentials of one of Susan Clarke, one of quoted alarmists. He points out that a some the most prestigious bodies such as the World Health Organization and Health Canada have stated that there is no credible evidence linking WiFi and health
The following excellent article on the WiFi issue appeared in the National Post. Scott Stinson, the author of this article checked into the questionable credentials of one of Susan Clarke, one of quoted alarmists. He points out that a some the most prestigious bodies such as the World Health Organization and Health Canada have stated that there is no credible evidence linking WiFi and health
Barrie School Board Maintains Wi-Fi
The following article reports that despite the concern of some teachers, and the "open letter" by Havas, the Barrie School Board had the good sense to maintain Wi-Fi in their schools. "There is no scientific or medical evidence to show children complaining about headaches, dizziness and nausea are being made ill by the Wi-Fi in their classrooms, the Simcoe County District School Board said Monday".
The following article reports that despite the concern of some teachers, and the "open letter" by Havas, the Barrie School Board had the good sense to maintain Wi-Fi in their schools. "There is no scientific or medical evidence to show children complaining about headaches, dizziness and nausea are being made ill by the Wi-Fi in their classrooms, the Simcoe County District School Board said Monday".
School Board Sticks with WiFi
The following story confirming the decision of the Barrie school board to maintain WiFi service in public schools appeared in the National Post. The story quoted some of the usual alarmist sources such as Magda Havas, but it also quoted credible sources such as the Ontario Ministry of Health and Dr. Daniel Krewski of the Mc-Laughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment.
The following story confirming the decision of the Barrie school board to maintain WiFi service in public schools appeared in the National Post. The story quoted some of the usual alarmist sources such as Magda Havas, but it also quoted credible sources such as the Ontario Ministry of Health and Dr. Daniel Krewski of the Mc-Laughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment.
Except where noted all images on this web site are taken from the Wikipedia commons
All trademarks are the property of their respective owners Copyright 2009 EMF & Health
All trademarks are the property of their respective owners Copyright 2009 EMF & Health