Will Wi-Fi become the next "Smoking"?

In our town, a petition is up to ban Wi-Fi in City Hall

[albo]

Employees claim it interferes with their "chemistry" ... that it has, over time, made them ill, to be exposed to constant radiation from Wi-Fi devices. A petition is up to have Wi-Fi banned from public buildings here.

Is this happening elsewhere? Does the Surgeon General need to warn us that Wi-Fi is dangerous to our health?

[jdMorgan]

And none of these people own or use cell phones, right? :)

Lack of education replaced by fear, pseudo-science, and superstition -- It's the new Middle Ages!

Jim

[MatthewHSE]

The way I see it, yes, all these wireless signals have got to have some sort of negative effect. However, not only do I believe it must be a fairly minimal effect, but there's also no getting away from it anyway. Cell phones, radio stations, cordless phones, wi-fi, etc., are sending waves everywhere around us. Consequently, I use these items without worrying about all the potentialities.

[Receptional Andy]

Wifi is just radio-waves, right? Massive volumes of people have been exposed to radio waves over prolonged periods with no ill-effects.

Mobile/cell phones are a bit different, since there have been pretty varied studies on the effects of those, some of which are slightly concerning.

[Demaestro]

Actually there are other places where this is happening.

There is a group of people who claim to be allergic to WiFi signals.... they call it Electrosensitivity many have outfitted their homes with tin foil or other material that they feel.. keeps the signals out.

In Santa Fe a group is trying to ban Wi-Fi in public buildings claiming that they won't be able to come to public building because of their "condition"

[crn.com...]

Santa Fe City Councilor Ron Trujillo battled back, saying Santa Fe residents need to get with the times and embrace wireless technology, noting that the city is already blanketed by wireless signals.

"It's not 1692, it's 2008," Trujillo said. "Santa Fe needs to embrace this technology. It's not going away."

Essex did a study in July of 2007 and found that...

Subjects were unable to distinguish whether the signal was present or absent.

Here is the original academic paper. (PDF)
[badscience.net...]

[albo]

Demaestro, that's my home town! In today's news we see that they decided unanimously to allow wiffy in public buildings. The antis are threatening a lawsuit claiming infringement of public access to their tax-paid services.

I would think, to avoid wiffy or other such, one would have to move far, far away...

[Demaestro]

I find it bordering on humorous... but really, it is just sad.... Even if the city didn't provide wi-fi themselves there would still be signals running through the building so I am not sure what they are trying to accomplish here. regardless it is already there.

I would love the city to ask some of these people to prove their ailment.

[albo]

Proof or not... I just begin to fear what (excuse me) I would call a woowoo movement of the worst kind, begging down my iPod Touch shoulder as I whip it out at my neighborhood bakery.

[ebound]

I would say, don't these people have anything better to do, but then I remembered they were some sort of government employee.

[SEOMike]

Oh man... So electrosensitivity is what's giving me allergies! I think I'm going to try to get my city to ban the new over-the-air HD signals. I've had this stuffy nose ever since HD broadcasting came out.

Hmmm.... maybe I could narrow it down to the exact TV station that's making me ill if I get them to cycle their broadcasts on and off.

I would cover my house in tin foil if I could afford to cool it after that.

I think the new HD radio signal is getting to me too and making my hair gray.... or maybe that's XM or Sirius. I guess I should sue them all. Maybe I'll start with my iPone, work over Cisco, radio, TV, satellite, etc. Oh, let's not forget about the people who are allergic to ULF signals used by the Navy.

This whole thing is so absurd it's funny. Nobody's allergic to radio waves. Give them a placebo pill, tell them it is the new cure for electrosensitivity and they'll be fine.