WiMAX could fry your brain. Or not

THE LETTER page of the London Times continues a debate on the alleged danger wireless networks pose to mankind.

See Schools ban wi-fi networks after safety fears.

Today, for example, the president of Lakehead University, Ontario, maintains that his campus banned wi-fi because evidence of physiological and behavioural evidence is compelling.

Fred Gilbert, the president of the university, said that 31 scientists have signed the Benevento Resolution which does recommend precautionary strategies to wireless systems.

According to this article on Treehugger, Gilbert thinks that electric and magnetic fields are likely to affect young people more than old codgers. He likens EMF fields to second hand tobacco and asbestos, which proved to be dangerous long after they were in wide use.

The Benevento Resolution said authorities should designate wi-fi free zones in cities, in schools, hospitals and on public transport systems.

Vendors of wi-fi systems and promoters of wi-fi and WiMAX systems have so far been curiously silent about the debate.

But senior Intel executive Sean Maloney told the INQ last year there is no evidence wireless transmissions have an effect on human tissue. See WiMAX masts pose no health risk, Intel says. µ