For me, the worst part about the “EMF thing”, by far, is what it's doing to our kids.
It's seeing pregnant mothers talk happily and freely on cell phones.
It's seeing young children, sometimes toddlers, use cell phones like toys.
It's seeing the massive electromagnetic radiation overexposure that all our children are being subjected to.
One part of this overexposure is WiFi in schools. Thankfully we are now seeing, bit by bit, schools which are becoming “ EMF aware”. Schools like Pretty River Academy in Collingwood, Ontario who have made the decision to have their WiFi system replaced by a hardwired network.
At the moment it seems as though for most people the best schools are the ones equipped with WiFi.
But I think (and hope) before too long we will begin to see a reversal in this trend.
In the meantime I would like to share with you a video. The first part of the video summarizes the dangers of EMFs and the hypocrisy surrounding this subject.
But it's the second part of the video that I would like you to watch closely, which is all about measuring electromagnetic radiation levels. The staggering revelation made in this video is that the school Wi-Fi network in question produces 3 times as much radiation as the cell phone tower.
Anyway don't take my word for it watch the video. The measurements part starts at 7mins 39 secs in (below is the transcript so you follow it more easily):
EM Radiation Testing at Calais School, Plainfield, VT
“In order to give the school readings some context, let's first take some background measurements in our local environment.
Background Measurements
Maple Corner Community Center: 12.7 mV/m
Curtis Pond: 14.0 mV/m
East Calais Post Office: 11.1 mV/m
Remote Natural Setting: 11.1 mV/m
In this first clip you can see that we're outside the Maple Corner Community Center, and meter is showing 12.7 mV/m. In the second clip you can see that we're at Curtis Pond, and the meter is showing 14.0 mV/m. Here we're at the East Calais Post Office, and meter is showing 11.1 mV/m.
What do these numbers mean? As a point of reference, here is the measurement taken out in the forest, away from all but the most distance sources of radiation. The meter shows 11.1 mV/m. When you compare the readings from this remote natural setting to the other readings that we took in town, you can see there isn’t that much in terms of background radiation in our local environment.
Calais’s Wi-Fi
Now that we have done the background environmental testing, let’s go to the school. The Calais School Wi-Fi system is set up with 5 routers placed in various locations in the building. There is Wi-Fi access throughout the school, with emphasis in certain areas such as the library, the community learning classroom and the upper grades.
All the children in the school currently use Wi-Fi enabled laptops. In the lower grades, children share a set that is wheeled around in a cart, and children in the upper grade have their own laptop for full time use. Thanks to the help of the director of technology and services, we were able to set up one of the upper grade classrooms for our test.
Classroom Test Results
Center of Room: ~800 mV/m
Direct Vicinity of Laptops: ~1V or 1000 mV/m
Front of Laptop: 2.857 V/m or 2857 mV/m
Here we are at the 5th and 6th grade classroom. The meter is showing 500 mV/m. We're approaching the router, which is where it's going to be highest, and as the number goes over 999 mV/m, it's going to show a new digit, six. That's means 6000 mV/m right next to the router.
Out in the middle of the room, it's about 700-800 mV/m. As we approach the laptops, they have a wireless transmitter in them because they need to be able to communicate with the router across the room. You get a stronger signal right next to the transmitter, which is in the back of the screen.
Here you can see close to the front of the laptop where your lap would be or where the student would be sitting. The numbers are several thousands, 2000-3000. So here we have the classroom test results. In the center of the room it was 800mV/M. In the direct vicinity of the laptops, it was around 1000mV/M. In front of the laptop, it was 2857mV/M. Of course I knew that the numbers were going to be high. But I had no idea they were going to be that high.
Microwave Radiation Comparison
Cell Tower: 800-900 mV/m
Classroom: 800-900 mV/m
Laptop: 2857 mV/m
To give you an idea of how high these are, I went and took test readings at a cell phone tower in the area. And the readings show pretty much the same as what's in the classroom. But nowhere near what the children would be exposed to if they were leaning over their Wi-Fi enabled laptops.
These laptops and the Wi-Fi network produce 3 times the microwave radiation of a cell phone tower. Most of us would never imagine that this would be case, because it doesn’t make sense. It was never explained to us before, and we'd never know about it if it weren’t for a meter. Would you as a parent, even for a second, consider a cell phone tower on the school grounds? How about one in the classroom? Without even knowing it, you consented to placing one in your child’s lap.
Children Are At a Higher Risk
What does this mean in terms of health issues? I don't even think we know at this point, because this is a new technology. This is the first generation of humans ever to experience direct and constant microwave radiation. What could be the long term health effects if this does turn out to be harmful? A recent study of cell phones found that long term users, meaning those who'd used one for over 10 years, were found to have a much higher cancer rate. What really stood out were the results of those who had started while young. For these individuals, the increase was over 500%.
Children absorb more radiation than adults. Their bodies have higher water content, and this makes them more conductive to the radiation. They are also more vulnerable because their skulls are thinner, and their brains are still growing; their immune systems are still developing, and their cells are still rapidly dividing. When you think about how much radiation exposure this generation would get by being near these wireless devices all day long, it's really staggering. The accumulative results would greatly exceed anything that has been studied so far. This amounts to a giant experiment that we are doing on something so precious as our children. Why would we consider risking their health for something so frivolous and unnecessary?
What Can You Do?
Fortunately, there is a fairly easy solution which is to hardwire the computers. Hardwiring is safe in that it emits no microwave radiation. The connection speed is much faster, it's more reliable, and the overall network would be secure. Cables can be routed neatly and cleanly with wire protectors to prevent tripping over the cords. The cost in many cases is negligible. The only issue appears to be losing some of the convenience being cord free. Convenience is not an acceptable reason to risk the health and safety of our children.
If as a parent you decide that these risks are not worth taking, and that our children health and well being is so precious that it should not be a part of an experiment, please let your school know.”
The message is simple: WiFi and its associated electromagnetic radiation has no place in our children's schools.
For my WIFI radiation protection tips click here.
Comments
Roland Roy said,
Hi,
Don’t you have the units wrong in regards to measuring radiowaves. The typical meter measuring wifi or cell phone microwave field strength is mW/square meter.
The units given in your video are mW/meter which is typically used in measuring electric field strength.
Excellent video, But you need to update the units used to measure microwave energy.
Roland Roy said,
oops, I meant to say your video shows milivolts/meter and this should be corrected to read milliwatts/square meter.
Thanks again for your excellent video!
Lloyd said,
Hi Roland
RF radiation can be measured in watts/square meter or volts/meter.
Watts/square meter (or mW/square meter) actually measures power flux density (PFD) by averaging the power over time (6 minutes for official RF measurements) and is therefore more relevant to measuring the heating effect of RF radiation.
Volts per metre or millivolts/meter is considered the best unit of measurement for measuring microwave signals at non-thermal levels (as used by WiFI and cell phones and the like) because it gives peak signal strength (some devices have peak power levels up to 100 times more than their average power levels).
Rachel said,
Hi Lloyd,
I would like to reduce the EMFs in our home. I have been using a cell phone, and would like to replace it with a landline. Is telephone service through a digital company (one that we would bundle with internet) be just as safe as a traditional copper wire landline? Also, are corded phones all safe, or are the more digital corded phones more dangerous? Finally, I would like to get rid of wireless internet, but cannot do that at this time. Do you know what distance should be kept from the router (especially at night). I am unable to turn it off because there are other people in our house who use it at odd hours. I am going to buy some cacti, but is there anything else I can do to make it better?? Thank you for all of your helpful information.
Lloyd said,
Hi Rachel
As far as minimizing your exposure to EMFs goes a traditional phone which plugs into your telephone socket (without plugging into the electricity) is the best solution. Any other solution will involve bringing more EMFs into your home. How much more, I can’t say exactly. The biggest issue with the kind of bundle you are talking about is usually WiFi. There is no precise safe distance, read this article for some tips on WiFi protection https://electricsense.com/3544/wifi-radiation-how-to-protect-yourself/, for information about reducing your exposure to computer radiation see https://electricsense.com/1138/my-9-tips-to-cut-down-on-exposure-to-computer-radiation/
Jeanne Mullen said,
Hi Lloyd,
Just wondering after reading preceding comment about traditional phones being safest without plugging into the electricity if there is any problem with a landline plugged into an old-fashioned answering machine which is plugged into a socket? Thanks for all the work you do, much appreciated.
Lloyd said,
Hi Jeanne
Even landline telephones are electrical devices, they work on dc and ac. The handset on a telephone has a speaker which creates magnetic fields…. much depends on your sensitivity…..these levels of EMFs are not a problem for most people. I would not expect the set up you describe to be a high EMF source, but again much depends on your sensitivity…..
Sue said,
Hey Lloyd,
I keep coming back to your wonderful website time and again. THANK YOU for all of your information and help!
Sue
Eric said,
Hi there,
I am interested in purchasing the corded phone with an air tube headset that lessemf.com sell.
Have you any experience of this?
Thanks, Eric.
Lloyd said,
This phone is sold with a low EMF headset. See how you get on with the existing headset before buying an air tube headset for it.
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