Concern over use of Wi-Fi in schools

Wireless Internet signals are often no stronger than those from a baby monitor, but that hasn’t halted debate over banning Wi-Fi from classrooms.

Two teachers’ union locals in Kingston, Ont., want their school to switch off wireless Internet connections. They are concerned the signals pose a significant health risk, although public health units across the country say Wi-Fi is safe, even for young children.

That hasn’t prevented some teachers’ unions and school boards from across the country, including the Canadian Teachers Federation, from calling for a moratorium on its use in schools, if not an outright ban.

“We’re concerned because Wi-Fi and microwave communications have not been determined to be safe and we’ve never received any training about the hazards, such as all the warnings that come with your cellphones or wireless devices,” said Andrea Loken, president of the Limestone district branch of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation.

“We’ve never been asked if we’re OK with being subjected to Wi-Fi all day every day while we’re at work. No one has given consent and no one has been informed of the risks.”

The branch has been joined by the local branch of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) in asking their school board to review Wi-Fi use, something that was already underway. The board expects to table a report this month.

Loken cites several studies on Wi-Fi safety, a stance that taps into moves to ban Wi-Fi across Canada and internationally. It is already banned in French public schools.

The ETFO, which represents all Ontario elementary teachers, is also questioning Wi-Fi’s safety.

There have been similar debates in Peel, one of Canada’s largest school boards covering a swath of suburbs west of Toronto, and at the Edmonton Catholic School Board.

The concerns stem from the belief the radio-frequency electromagnetic energy that carries Wi-Fi to electronic devices is detrimental to human health, especially when it is powerful enough to cover an entire school or system. It is a low form of radiation, about the same as what comes off a TV or microwave.

Loken said her executive has done its own research and is convinced Health Canada is failing to recognize the danger of Wi-Fi. She says “it’s simply not true” Wi-Fi is the same strength as a radio broadcast tower. (Most WiFi runs between 2.4 and 5 gigahertz; 2.4 gigahertz is so common it’s usually the frequency for baby monitors and garage door openers).

“The problem with Wi-Fi in schools is that it’s on all the time. We’re not allowed to turn it off,” Loken said, adding people can choose to smoke or own a cellphone and accept those risks, but not whether they are exposed to Wi-Fi.

But Health Canada — like the World Health Organization and Public Health Ontario — states “current scientific evidence supports the assertion that (radiofrequency) energy emissions from Wi-Fi devices are not harmful.”

At its strongest, Wi-Fi is only about as strong as one per cent of the maximum electromagnetic energy emissions allowed by Health Canada under “Safety Code 6.” This mandates how strong the energy emitted from any wireless device can be.

“I don’t think most scientific experts would feel there is any kind of an established risk for children around WiFi,” said Dr. Ray Copes, chief of environmental and occupational health at Public Health Ontario. “That’s very different than saying we have conclusively proven that nothing can ever happen.”

“There’s a lot of literature out there. The challenge in much of that is you get oneoff studies that can’t be replicated,” he added.

“Wherever we go we’re going to be exposed to some degree of radiation, and that’s everything from sunlight … to high-voltage electricity transmission.”

Copes believes it’s “reasonable” to discuss limitations on where and when the routers themselves are set up, because close proximity can increase exposure.

He points out portable electronics are stronger than Wi-Fi when held right against the body but much safer at arm’s length. So even if classrooms were hardwired to the Internet, instead of wirelessly connected, the same electromagnetic energy would be bouncing around.

The World Health Organization says “scientific knowledge in this area is now more extensive than for most chemicals. Based on a recent in-depth review of the scientific literature, it concluded that current evidence does not confirm the existence of any health consequences from exposure to low-level electromagnetic fields.

THE PROBLEM WITH WI-FI IN SCHOOLS IS THAT IT’S ON ALL THE TIME.