Does WiFi Cause Brain Cancer? New Zealand School Says Yes, Science Says No

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We have installed WiFi services in hundreds of sites – hospitals, schools, medical offices, multifamily communities – and have never had a single issue or complaint.

Miami, FL (PRWEB) January 30, 2014

After circulating a controversial petition, two New Zealand fathers, Damon Wyman and David Bird, have succeeded in getting wireless Internet removed from their children’s school according to a Business Insider article dated December 30th, 2013.

The reason? Wyman believes the school’s WiFi signal may have caused the death of his ten-year-old son. Ethan Wyman passed away from brain cancer earlier this year.

“We're not saying that caused it, but it seems like a bit of a coincidence. Most people would be very cautious about giving their 5-year-old a cellphone — well, this is 30 kids in a classroom (being exposed) to the same thing,” Mr. Wyman said.

Steven Scheck, founder of Inspire WiFi, a nationwide provider of wireless networks for the multifamily, hospitality and healthcare industries states, "Wyman and Bird are sincere, but unfortunately, they’re misguided. Multiple scientific studies show that WiFi really isn’t the problem."

Wireless systems and cell phones emit low amounts of non-ionizing radiofrequency energy (radiation). Ionizing radiation, the type used in X-rays and radiation therapy, can sometimes cause cancer. However, according to a 2012 FDA report, there is no known link between non-ionizing radiation and cancer. The National Cancer Institute also has a related fact sheet from 2013 saying that the only known effect of non-ionizing radiation is heat. (Microwave ovens heat food using non-ionizing radiation.)

Numerous medical studies from 2006-2011 have shown that radiofrequency energy does not cause DNA changes in cells (1), and does not cause cancer in animals (2) or trigger existing carcinogens to increase chances of cancer (3).

Not to mention the 2010 Society for Neuro-Oncology's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program Report, which tracked incidences of brain and nervous system cancer in the U.S. from 1987 to 2007, the years when cell phone use expanded exponentially. Millions more people were exposed to non-ionizing radiation during these years. But did the number of brain cancer cases increase? They did not.

What’s more, countless families and communities around the world use cell phones and wireless Internet every day with no adverse effects. “We have installed WiFi services in hundreds of sites – hospitals, schools, medical offices, multifamily communities – and have never had a single issue or complaint,” Mr. Scheck says. “We think thousands of satisfied customers should count for something on top of the extensive amount of medical research that has proven how safe WiFi is.”

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1. "Effects of Cell Phone Radiofrequency Signal Exposure on Brain Glucose Metabolism" by Nora D. Volkow, MD; Dardo Tomasi, PhD et al, Journal of the American Medical Association, February 23, 2011, Vol 305, No. 8.

2. "The effects of pulsed 860 MHz radiofrequency radiation on the promotion of neurogenic tumors in rats" by BC Zook and SJ Simmens, Radiation Research Society, May 2006;165(5):608-15.

3. "Carcinogenicity study of 217 Hz pulsed 900 MHz electromagnetic fields in Pim1 transgenic mice" by G. Oberto, K. Rolfo, et al, Radiation Research Society, Sep 2007;168(3):316-26.

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