This is why we need evidenced-based politics.
Here’s what the House of Commons health committee recommends that Health Canada start monitoring regarding Wi-Fi:
- Health Canada should ensure a process exists to receive and respond to reports of adverse reactions to electromagnetic-radiation-emitting devices such as cell phones and Wi-Fi systems, similar to how adverse reactions are tracked for medications.
- Federal government should consider funding long-term studies on the potential health impacts of such exposure.
- Health Canada should request that an independent institution assess Canadian and international scientific literature on the potential health impacts of short- and long-term exposure to the radiation and report on its findings.
- Health Canada and Industry Canada should raise awareness and promote safe use of wireless technologies.
- The two departments could offer to provide information, including awareness sessions, on exposure to radio frequency electromagnetic radiation.
At first glance, all the points seem worthwhile and good skeptical positions that we should be taking… except that if we do all this we waste a lot of money that could go to something useful in health care, like say… saving lives!
Long-term studies have been done, independent international institutions have considered the issue, collecting calls from quacks is a waste of time, and there is no real unsafe way to use most modern electronics (unless you void warranties and make some hacks).
The only half-decent suggestion in that list is that Health Canada ought to “provide information,” which would mean actually combatting the pseudoscientific quackery that’s out there.
Now, I’m going to go to bed and sleep on my wireless router with my cellphone making a call to my cordless home phone tapes to opposite sides of my brain.