Wireless laptops shouldn’t be placed on Children’s laps according to a government health expert.
Wireless networks should be monitored until research into the potential health risks has been carried out, according to Professor Lawrie Challis, the head of the government’s committee on mobile phone safety research.
He told the Daily Telegraph that children should keep a safe distance from laptops with built in antennas, which receive UV signals.
According to the World Health Organization: "Children are in a dynamic state of growth, and are therefore more susceptible to environmental threats than adults. Unsafe environments may interfere with their normal development."
The Health Protection agency has said that wi-fi devices have a much lower power than mobile phones.
Prof Challis, retired professor of physics at the University of Nottingham, said placing a wireless laptop on your lap you are only 2 centimeters away from the antenna, which is the same difference that a mobiles normally is.
"Since we advise that children should be discouraged from using mobile phones, we should also discourage children from placing their laptop on their lap when they are using wi-fi." Teachers are also concerned about the effect of wi-fi on children. Philip Parkin, General Secretary of the Professional Association of Teachers (PAT), said:
"I am concerned that so many wireless networks are being installed in schools and colleges. without any understanding of the possible long-term consequences.
He is writing to the Education Secretary on behalf of PAT to ask for an investigation into the effects of wi-fi in schools. He said: "There are huge commercial pressures which may be why there has not yet been any significant action.
Robyn Walker