Lunes, 21 de mayo de 2007 - 12:42 GMT _http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/science/newsid_6676000/6676299.stm _* **Posibles riesgos del mundo WiFi *BBC Mundo Ciencia /No se conoce lo suficiente sobre los posibles efectos en la salud de la tecnología WiFi. Esa es la advertencia del presidente de la Agencia de Protección Sanitaria de Gran Bretaña. / Según William Stewart, quien dirigió la investigación del gobierno británico sobre los efectos a la salud de los teléfonos móviles, debemos tener la misma actitud precautoria que adoptamos ante estos últimos. La tecnología WiFi, del inglés Wireless Fidelity o fidelidad inalámbrica, ofrece la posibilidad de conexiones rápidas a través de señales de radio, y no requiere cables o enchufes. Gran Bretaña, igual que muchos otros países del mundo, ha adoptado esta tecnología y cada vez más escuelas, universidades, y hogares se han unido a la revolución inalámbrica. Sin embargo, los expertos afirman que los efectos a largo plazo de la tecnología no han sido suficientemente investigados. En particular se mencionan los posibles riesgos a la salud de los niños que asisten a escuelas con redes inalámbricas. * Radiación * La radiofrecuencia de los teléfonos móviles, las torres de telefonía móvil y las redes WiFi emiten radiación. Una investigación del programa de la BBC "Panorama" encontró que los niveles de radiación en un salón de clases de una escuela en Inglaterra eran tres veces más altos que los niveles de radiación emitidos por una torre de telefonía celular. Los expertos afirman, sin embargo, que incluso estos niveles en ese salón están por debajo de los límites que se consideran seguros en este país. El debate sobre los efectos de la tecnología inalámbrica no es nuevo. Siempre se ha dicho que no se debe permitir que la radiación de una torre de telefonía móvil llegue al los patios de las escuelas. Y ahora, mientras no se demuestre lo contrario, los expertos afirman que debemos tomar con precaución las posibles consecuencias de la radiación de la tecnología inalámbrica. El problema es que quizás ya es un poco tarde, porque muchas escuelas alrededor del mundo se han unido a la revolución inalámbrica. En Gran Bretaña, casi 50% de las escuelas primarias y 70% de las secundarias tienen tecnología WiFi. Además, muchos niños que ya están rodeados de estas emisiones en la escuela, regresarán a casa donde quizás también habrá radiación WiFi. * Sobre la mesa * Lo que se sabe hasta ahora es que la exposición de las emisiones WiFi a menudo es muy pequeña, ya que los transmisores son de baja potencia y se colocan a cierta distancia del cuerpo. También pueden estar más cerca, por ejemplo, cuando nos colocamos nuestra laptop en las piernas. Por eso, dicen los expertos, es mejor alentar a los niños que usen su computadora en una mesa si van a estar conectados a internet durante mucho tiempo. Algunos países, sin embargo, ya han adoptado medidas precautorias más estrictas. Los estudiantes de la Universidad Lakehead, en Ontario, Canadá, tienen prohibido conectarse a internet en varias zonas del campus universitario donde se ha eliminado el uso de tecnología WiFi. Según el rector de la misma, "la radiación de microondas en el rango de frecuencia de WiFi causa cambios de conducta, altera las funciones cognitivas, activa la respuesta de estrés e interfiere con las ondas cerebrales". Las autoridades universitarias afirman que no se usarán redes inalámbricas hasta que se demuestre que estas ondas no son dañinas para la salud. * Precaución * Hasta ahora, sin embargo, no se ha logrado demostrar que la WiFi sea perjudicial. Según el profesor Henry Lai, _http://www.emrpolicy.org/science/forum/index.htm_, de la Universidad Estatal de Washington, quien ha estudiado los posibles efectos a la salud de las redes WiFi, afirma que las investigaciones hasta ahora no han sido concluyentes. "Debe haber por lo menos unos tres mil estudios llevados a cabo durante los pasados 20 años sobre estos efectos", afirma el experto. "Y hasta ahora, el 50% de estos encontró algún efecto perjudicial, y el 50% no encontró ningún efecto en absoluto", agrega. El gobierno británico afirma que mientras las emisiones de radiación estén por debajo de los límites que se consideran seguros, no existen riesgos a la salud. Pero, tal como preguntamos al profesor Lai, ¿permitirá que sus hijos se sienten frente a una computadora inalámbrica durante todos sus años escolares? "No lo creo -afirma- yo limitaría su exposición a este tipo de radiación, porque más vale ser precavidos". _http://www.clarin.com/diario/2007/05/21/um/m-01423224.htm _ * * *16:57 | **Un estudio advierte sobre los riesgos por el uso de la tecnología WiFi * /Según una investigación de la BBC, las ondas de radio emitidas por este sistema de transmisión son tres veces más potentes que las emanadas por los teléfonos celulares y aún no está claro si pueden causar daños. Algunos países ya adoptaron medidas precautorias. /* Tendencias *La Agencia de Protección Sanitaria de Gran Bretaña advirtió que no se conoce lo suficiente sobre los posibles efectos que la tecnología WiFi podría tener en la salud. Según una investigación realizada por la BBC, las ondas de radio emitidas por este sistema de transmisión son tres veces más potentes que las emanadas por los teléfonos celulares. Cada vez más locales comerciales, universidades y hogares adoptan el sistema inalámbrico WiFi ("Wireless Fidelity", "Fidelidad inalámbrica" en español). En Gran Bretaña, lo utilizan casi el 50% de las escuelas primarias y el 70% de las secundarias. Los expertos afirman que los efectos de la exposición a esta tecnología a largo plazo no fueron suficientemente investigados y que existen posibles riesgos para quienes se exponen a sus radiaciones. Algunos países ya adoptaron medidas precautorias. Los estudiantes de la Universidad Lakehead, en Canadá, tienen prohibido conectarse a Internet en varias zonas del campus universitario. Las autoridades de ese centro educativo afirman que no se usarán redes inalámbricas hasta que se demuestre que estas ondas no son dañinas para la salud. Sin embargo, hasta el momento no se logró demostrar que la tecnología sea perjudicial. "Debe haber por lo menos unos tres mil estudios llevados a cabo sobre estos efectos. Hasta ahora, el 50% encontró algún efecto perjudicial y el 50% no encontró ningún efecto en absoluto", explicó a la prensa el profesor Henry Lai, de la Universidad Estatal de Washington. Artículo *Las redes WiFi matan a los niños *por El equipo de The Inquirer: [email protected]_ [email protected]_ Lunes 23 Abril 2007, 11:36 _http://es.theinquirer.net/2007/04/23/las_redes_wifi_matan_a_los_nin.html _ Sir William Stewart, director de la Health Protection Agency, quiere que se vigile a los más jóvenes y a los efectos nocivos que pueden causar sobre ellos las redes WiFi instaladas en centros escolares. Sir William fue anteriormente consejero científico del gobierno, y ha presentado dos peticiones oficiales para advertir del peligro de los teléfonos móviles. Teme que las redes WiFi puedan causar cáncer y una senilidad prematura. Varios gobiernos en distintas provincias de Europa están eliminando o limitando el uso de WiFi en las clases. Ningún estudio ha conseguido relacionar los efectos de las redes inalámbricas en los pupilos, pero estas redes emiten una radiación similar a las emisiones de los teléfonos móviles y las antenas de telefonía móvil. _ _ _http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article2472133.ece _ from The Independent & The Independent on Sunday 21 May 2007 19:47 Health Medical *Wi-Fi: Children at risk from 'electronic smog' * Revealed - radiation threat from new wireless computer networks Teachers demand inquiry to protect a generation of pupils By Geoffrey Lean, environment editor Published: 22 April 2007 Britain's top health protection watchdog is pressing for a formal investigation into the hazards of using wireless communication networks in schools amid mounting concern that they may be damaging children's health, 'The Independent on Sunday' can reveal. Sir William Stewart, the chairman of the Health Protection Agency, wants pupils to be monitored for ill effects from the networks - known as Wi-Fi - which emit radiation and are being installed in classrooms across the nation. Sir William - who is a former chief scientific adviser to the Government, and has chaired two official inquiries into the hazards of mobile phones - is adding his weight to growing pressure for a similar examination of Wi-Fi, which some scientists fear could cause cancer and premature senility. Wi-Fi - described by the Department of Education and Skills as a "magical" system that means computers do not have to be connected to telephone lines - is rapidly being taken up inschools, with estimates that more than half of primary schools - and four-fifths of secondary schools - have installed it . But several European provincial governments have already taken action to ban, or limit, its use in the classroom, and Stowe School has partially removed it after a teacher became ill. This week the Professional Association of Teachers, which represents 35,000 staff across the country, will write to Alan Johnson, Secretary of State for Education, to demand an official inquiry. Virtually no studies have been carried out into Wi-Fi's effects on pupils, but it gives off radiation similar to emissions from mobile phones and phone masts. Recent research has linked radiation from mobiles to cancer and to brain damage. And many studies have found disturbing symptoms in people near masts. Professor Olle Johansson, _http://www.feb.se/ARTICLES/OlleJ.html _ of Sweden's prestigious Karolinska Institute, who is deeply concerned about the spread of Wi-Fi, says there are "thousands" of articles in scientific literature demonstrating "adverse health effects". He adds: "Do we not know enough already to say, 'Stop!'?" For the past 16 months, the provincial government of Salzburg in Austria has been advising schools not to install Wi-Fi, and is considering a ban. Dr Gerd Oberfeld, its head of environmental health and medicine, calls the technology "dangerous". Sir William - who takes a stronger position on the issue than his agency - was not available for comment yesterday, but two members of an expert group that he chairs on the hazards of radiation spoke of his concern. Mike Bell, chairman of the Electromagnetic Radiation Research Trust, says that he has been "very supportive of having Wi-Fi examined and doing something about it". And Alasdair Philips, _http://www.powerwatch.org.uk/docs/aboutus.asp _ director of Powerwatch, an information service, said that he was pressing for monitoring of the health of pupils exposed to Wi-Fi. Labour MP Ian Gibson, who was interviewed with Sir William for a forthcoming television programme, last week said that he backed proposals for an inquiry. 21 May 2007 19:48 Leading Articles _http://comment.independent.co.uk/leading_articles/article2472074.ece _ Leading article: *Hi-tech horrors *Published: 22 April 2007 The technologies we grow to love most have a way of exacting a toll once we become dependent on them. They change our lives and then come back to demand their price. Take the internal combustion engine, which has allowed us to be comfortably mobile, but killed many millions in accidents and from pollution. Or indeed the burning of fossil fuels, which has driven prosperity for more than two centuries, but now threatens to destroy through uncontrolled global warming the very civilisation it has created. Mobile phones are our latest love affair - over 50 million are in use in Britain - and for these too there may well be a reckoning. Evidence is beginning to accumulate that the radiation they emit may cause cancer and so damage the brains of today's young people that they become senile while still in the prime of life. Two official reports by Sir William Stewart - chairman of the official Health Protection Agency and a former government chief scientist - have warned against the dangers, only to be effectively ignored by the Government. The measures he proposed were moderate and sensible, but were treated with unforgivable contempt. He wanted ministers to circulate a leaflet detailing the potential dangers to every home; they restricted distribution so much that it was hard to get. He asked for information on the widely varying radiation levels of different phones to be put on the handsets and the packaging, so that customers could choose to buy low-radiation models for themselves or their children; ministers pledged to do so, and broke their promise. He recommended that erecting mobile phone masts near schools should be banned unless parents agreed; the Government simply refused. Above all, he insisted that children should be discouraged from using mobiles and that industry should be stopped from promoting them to the young; nothing happened and their use became almost universal. Now, as we report today, he is privately airing new concerns - about the rapid spread of Wi-Fi technology, particularly in schools. The radiation emitted by the networks is far less than from mobiles, and it is not delivered so close to the head. But it is constant, and involuntary. People who are particularly, and dangerously, sensitive to the radiation will not be able to escape it. Nor will those who might choose not to take the gamble with their health. And as the technology is rolled out to cover whole cities, any refuge will become next to impossible. The inconvenient truth is that we are conducting a massive experiment on ourselves and particularly on our children. We are surrounding ourselves with an ever-thickening electronic soup the like of which living cells have not encountered during their billions of years of evolution. Of course, all may be well; we may be immune to any ill-effects. But there is enough evidence accumulating to make it seem unlikely that we will be so lucky. As we exclusively reported last week, other members of the animal kingdom - bees - may be even more affected. We need to stop and think. Weshould be officially monitoring the effects on the children we expose to the radiation in classrooms. We also need another official inquiry - as authoritative as the Stewart reports on mobile phones - before the technology is deployed further. And this time, ministers must implement what it recommends. _http://www.powerwatch.org.uk/docs/aboutus.asp_ Alasdair Philips *Powerwatch - About Us *[Back to Home Page] [About Us] [Mission and Aims] [Vision and Purpose] [Staff] Powerwatch has been researching the links between electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and health risks for about 17 years, and is completely independent of government and industry. We gather information from around the world about EMFs, in order to help the lay person understand this complex issue. We have designed a number of instruments so that the general public can find out what they are exposed to, and have written numerous publications on the latest research, what is understood and what is not known, and what you can do to minimise any high fields you may be regularly exposed to. These, and high quality EMF shielding material (including paint), are sold by EMFields. Powerwatch was formed in 1988 to fight a proposal for a large new electricity substation in Norfolk, England, UK. This was on a greenfield site and was to be built to free up an existing one on a valuable industrial site. The original driving force behind it was Neil Mayhew, _http://www.greenhealthwatch.com/GOODS/BOOKSCDS/BookLivingWithElecBOEMFLIVELE... _a road safety engineer working for Norfolk County Council. The issues included electromagnetic effects on health, appropriate power use and energy efficiency. Powerwatch was commended by the Inspector for its professional and appropriate input to the Inquiry. Around the same time, Alasdair Philips was Newsletter Editor for a group called Electronics and Computing for Peace. He and colleagues had been investigating the claimed (mis-)use of non-lethal electromagnetic weapons by the military, one particular example being the 'zapping' of the women peace protestors at Greenham Common ~ a RAF base being used by the American military as a Cruise Missile base. When they visited the Greenham Airbase they measured microwave beams, amplitude modulated at extremely low frequencies, aimed directly at the women. Interestingly, this was confirmed to Alasdair by senior Home Office officials at a Mobile Phones and Health Effects conference held in Whitehall, London, in 1996. As well as building up a database of both Russian and American military electromagnetic weaponry literature, it soon became clear that low frequency electric and magnetic fields from power lines and electrical appliances were also suspect of being able to cause, or at least promote, adverse health effects, especially childhood leukaemia. In 1990 ECP amalgamated with other groups to form Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR), and Alasdair Philips moved most of his non-ionising electromagnetic field work to Powerwatch, although staying a member of SGR. Until the summer of 1998 Powerwatch was a membership organisation open to members of the general public. Although we had about 600 members, most of them just wanted news and advice and it was not proving possible to find the time and resources to run it properly. It was decided to transfer existing membership subscriptions into subscriptions to the ElectroMagnetic Hazard and Therapy Quarterly Newsletter. Since then Powerwatch has been an association of skilled people, Directed by Alasdair Philips, maintaining this web site and providing a consultancy service on a commercial basis to businesses and to the general public, and providing technical input to local Councils and Government. Alasdair Philips in qualified in both Electrical and Electronic Engineering and in Agricultural Engineering. Since 1986 he has built up a considerable knowledge of EMF bioeffects, and is one of the leading 'alternative' voices on the subject in the UK. Powerwatch is used as a forum for a small group of knowledgeable engineers and scientists who are concerned about the consequences of irradiated 'blue world' we are creating. -- _______________________________________________ Bah-alcarria mailing list [email protected] https://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/bah-alcarria