A leading cancer
expert has called for a ban on school wifi networks over fears they
could put children's health at risk. Dr Anthony Miller, an advisor to
the World Health Organization, says pupils could suffer long-term
effects from exposure to the radio waves.
He warned: “Radiation from
mobile phones and other wireless devices can cause changes in DNA and
induce cancer in experimental animals.
“Children’s skulls are thinner and absorb much more of this radiation. We ignore this at our future peril.”
Campaigners claim an
increasing number of people suffer from “electromagnetic sensitivity” –
leading to symptoms from a lack of concentration to headaches and
nosebleeds.
In one disturbing case, a
15-year-old is said to have taken her own life after being overwhelmed
by tiredness, dizzy spells and even itchy skin due to wifi networks at
her school.
Eventually Jenny took her own life and her mum believes radio waves are responsible for her suffering
We also found children
removed from class by their parents after they began to suffer nausea
and concentration issues – and even a teacher who claims he was affected
himself.
Yet Public Health England
insists wifi is safe as it uses similar frequencies to radio and TV and
gives less exposure than mobiles.
And that means NHS doctors
currently have no diagnosis for the condition – leaving those fearing
they suffer from it with nowhere to turn.
Mum Debra Fry told how her daughter Jenny killed herself after developing the wifi “allergy”.
The 15-year-old hanged herself from a tree following two years of crippling tiredness, headaches and even bladder problems.
Debra, 57, said: “I
believe she just couldn’t take any more. She had overwhelming fatigue,
headaches and ear pressure, difficulty finding words, itchy skin,
dizziness and stiff joints.
“She was getting into
trouble at school because she couldn’t concentrate and needed to urinate
more than usual, so was always leaving class.
Debra Fry with a picture of Jenny as a baby
“She’d always been a very good student and a very healthy child.
“I made sure she got the
right nutrients, the right influences, the right education. I had no
idea we were exposing her to something so dangerous.”
While many of Jenny’s
symptoms could be put down to teenage hormones, Debra and partner
Charles Newman are in no doubt they were caused by the wireless
networking technology.
They say Jenny’s difficulties began when they and her school installed wifi at around the same time in late 2012.
But she improved when they
took out their home wifi router months later. Debra, of Chadlington,
Oxon, said: “All her symptoms eased or went away when she came home,
particularly at weekends and holidays.
“We wanted to take her to the GP but thought our fears would be dismissed.”
She told how Jenny then
failed to show up at school one day in June 2015. She said: “She’d
texted a friend, hinting at what she was going to do. But they’d left
their phone at home.
“When they realised something was wrong another friend came to tell me and we went out looking for her.”
A wireless wifi router, the likes of which are now commonplace in schools and workplaces
Close to tears, Debra told how she saw her daughter in the distance, beside a tree.
She said: “I thought she was standing on the bough of the hill.
“I was calling out her name, asking if she was okay and reassuring her.
“It was only as I got closer I realised she wasn’t standing at all and there was a noose around her neck.”
Surveys have shown up to
five per cent of people believe they are affected by sensitivity to
radio waves. Experts are divided over whether the technology can
actually cause harm.
And even insurance firms play safe, with some refusing outright to cover schools against claims for exposure.
Lloyds of London syndicate
CFC Underwriting excludes school liability for injuries “resulting from
or contributed to by electromagnetic fields, electromagnetic radiation,
electromagnetism, radio waves or noise.”
Another firm, Zurich, will
offer cover. But Tilden Watson, head of education products, said: “As
with any insurance, we would consider the school’s specific involvement
in use and supply of the technology.”
The International
Agency for Research on Cancer – a branch of the World Health
Organization – classes wifi as a Group 2B cancer risk, meaning there is
not yet enough evidence to dismiss a possible link.
Most phones also emit radio waves as well as using them to access the net
Wifi is included because it uses similar technology to mobile phones.
Public Health England says
a year spent near to a wifi hotspot would give the same dose of radio
waves as a 20-minute mobile call.
Canadian Dr Miller believes WHO should increase the risk rating.
He said: “We know that
when humans are exposed to cancer-causing agents, it’s usually quite a
delay before you see the full effect. We’re concerned when those
children become adults their risk of cancer will be much greater.
“We could be storing up
higher cancer rates in the future. Since radio frequency radiation was
graded 2B there have been more studies showing this increased risk.
“In my view it should be on the same level as tobacco and asbestos. It should not be allowed in school.”
Primary schools use iPads and tablets in class which require wifi
Schools in France, Belgium
and parts of America already ban or limit wifi use. And campaigners are
urging the UK to follow suit until more research is carried out.
Mum-of-three Alisa Keane has taken her three sons out of school because she believes the wifi was making them ill.
Alisa, of Downpatrick, Co
Down, said James, nine, Conn, seven, and six-year-old Dara suffered
headaches, nausea and concentration issues.
She is now home schooling them after seeing how the “fog” lifted away from the classroom.
And in Doncaster,
dad Paul Lewis removed daughter Jessica from her junior school into a
private academy after she developed headaches when wifi was introduced
in the classroom.
Accountant Paul says
Jessica, now 15, no longer suffers the mysterious symptoms. He said:
“The frustrating thing is there is no need for school wifi.
“They should be using cables until it can be proved there is no risk from electromagnetic fields.”
Sarah Dacre, a trustee of charity Electrosensitivity UK, says they help “hundreds” of people with symptoms including tinnitus , skin rashes, muscle pains and memory loss.
Wifi has not been officially recognised by the WHO as carrying a health risk
She said: “There are clinics overseas which regularly diagnose ES with a range of tests.
“But there are no such places in the UK and most GPs have no training in handling it.
“New ES cases often tell
us they’re unable to use smartphones or wifi routers, and that
installation of smart meters has made their lives impossible.”
Diana Hanson, of the Safe
School Information Technology Alliance, says parents convinced wifi is
making their children sick are often “extremely distressed”.
She said: “People say the risk is minimal by comparing it to things on the Group 2B list such as coffee and exhaust fumes.
“But we don’t give our children 10 coffees a day or sit them in a room full of running cars.”
Classics teacher Michael
Bevington works in a wifi-free classroom in Stowe, Bucks, after
developing what he believes is electromagnetic sensitivity.
He said: “If people can be allergic to foods and chemicals, it makes sense we can be sensitive to radio waves.”
Although sensitivity to
electro magnetic radiation is recognised by the WHO, its impact is still
unknown and therefore it is very difficult to diagnose.
NHS doctors currently have no diagnosis criteria and it is therefore almost impossible to be treated for it.
Long term effects of
exposure to WiFi technology are unknown so it could be years before
disgnosis and treatment are commonplace.