Chapter 5

Wi-fi

Wireless technologies have made such inroads into consumer devices that they’re now finding their way into homes in droves.

As well as the well-known wireless phones, tablets, computers, printers, TVs, and baby monitors, there are now, or soon will be, wireless coffee makers, washing machines, clothes dryers, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, and toys.

Wireless devices are being used so often that many people are addicted to them — more on that later. People are so used to sending texts and emails, that now they’re even able to do it in their sleep! Sleep specialists have reported cases of people sending texts or emails while asleep — some of them coherent messages — with the people having no knowledge of doing so when they wake up.

SUGGESTION

Do you know how many wireless devices are present in your home?

Make a list of all the wireless devices in your home.

Wi-fi and health

Of course, all these devices emit wireless radiation, some of them continuously.

Because wi-fi is a relatively recent technology, we don’t know the full extent of its impacts, particularly on people whose exposure begins as children. However, studies on animals have shown damaging effects such as these:

• changes to microRNA — molecules that regulate the expression of genes — which could be linked with neurodegenerative diseases
• damage to the reproductive system
• interference with pregnancy or deformity of the embryo
• brain damage
• reduced growth and delayed puberty
• damage to the eye lens
• reduced liver function
• poorer learning and memory
• cardiovascular damage.

It’s also likely that wi-fi exposure could interfere with fertility. Scientists from Argentina took samples of semen from 29 men and exposed half of it to wi-fi from a laptop for four hours. The exposed sperm had less motility than the unexposed sperm. In other words, they were less likely to navigate the route to the egg to achieve fertilisation. Since then, other studies have found similar results.

Of course, it’s not possible to know the full effects of wi-fi radiation on people’s health — because not enough time has yet passed to see the effects of long-term exposure. It will only be when the current generation of wi-fi users has been exposed to this radiation for many years that scientists will definitively understand the long-term effects.

However, the research on animals and sperm has already provided enough evidence to justify calls for precautions.

Professor Yuri Grigoriev, head of the Russian National Committee on Non-ionizing Radiation Protection, is a world authority on wireless radiation. He has described wi-fi radiation as ‘an uncontrolled global experiment on the health of mankind’. ‘We should stop telling [everyone] that Wi-Fi is harmless,’ he wrote. ‘We should better be honest and say that “we do not know what long-term effects might be.”’

WHAT ABOUT EYESIGHT?

Children are spending so much time indoors, peering at screen-based devices, that it’s affecting their eyesight. Levels of myopia (short-sightedness) are on the rise in many countries and one study found that over half the students in 60 primary and middle schools suffered from the condition.

Useful things to know

• You can have access to the internet with wired connections (e.g. ethernet cables). Using a laptop with wired connections avoids wireless radiation — but make sure the you turn off the wireless on your devices!
• Higher levels of radiation are present when a wireless device is actually downloading or sending information, but radiation is present all the time that the device is wirelessly connected.
• No, you can’t easily shield the radiation from wireless devices because, as shown earlier, it’s the radiation that carries the information. If you successfully blocked all the radiation from a wi-fi device, such as a tablet, it would no longer connect to the internet. Similarly, if you successfully shielded a wi-fi router, it would no longer connect to your wi-fi devices.
• On some modems, you can turn off wi-fi when you are not using it — but be aware that some modems turn themselves back on automatically — so look for modems that don’t.

DE-STRESS

Wireless radiation triggers a stress reaction in the body. But did you know that an effective antidote to stress is spending time in nature? Scottish scientists found that people who were walking in the natural environment had lower levels of frustration and arousal, and described their walks as ‘mood-enhancing’.

Pros and cons

The benefits of wireless technology is that there are less cords — less to trip over, less to pull out, and less to yank your expensive device from its perch. The cost of the technology is that it exposes the family to radiofrequency radiation.

Which would you rather have, the cord or the radiation?

JUST HOW SMART IS YOUR SMART TV?

Did you know that smart TVs don’t just display television shows or internet content? They can also pick up information about homeowners. In early 2017, New York resident Joshua Siegel took legal action against Samsung, claiming that its smart TVs record conversations that take place in front of the TV and may share that information with a third party.

Risk and precaution

If you’d like to reduce your family’s exposure to wi-fi, here are some ideas to consider.

LEAST WISE

• Spending long periods using wi-fi.
• Locating the wi-fi modem or router in a high-use area such as a bedroom, on a desk, in the kitchen, or near the lounge.
• Allowing children to have unlimited use of wi-fi.
• Buying as many ‘smart’ appliances as you can.
• Buying or creating a smart house.

WISE

• Turn off the wi-fi when it’s not in use. Because some modems automatically turn the wi-fi back on, you might consider buying one that allows wi-fi to be turned off permanently.
• Locate the modem or router away from high-use areas.
• Limit children’s use of wi-fi (e.g. by encouraging them to do their homework on a computer with wired internet connections).
• Buy devices that can be plugged into a wired modem (e.g. a laptop) rather than those that can only be used wirelessly (e.g. a tablet).
• Don’t use devices that have wi-fi — such as laptops and tablets — on your lap.
• Use your tablet in airplane mode as much as possible.
• Keep away from your wireless device when you’re downloading a game or program from the internet, and play or watch it later with wi-fi turned off.
• Keep wireless devices out of bedrooms.
• Don’t use wi-fi devices in low-reception areas or in cars, buses, or trains.
• Before Christmas and birthdays, let relatives know you’d prefer your child to receive non–wireless-radiation-emitting presents.

WISEST

• Use a wired computer with wired internet and turn off the wireless function.