Environment Ministry's verdict on the health risks from wireless technology
puts the British government to shame.
People should avoid using Wi-Fi wherever possible because of the risks it
may pose to health, the German government has said.
Its surprise ruling – the most damning made by any government on the
fast-growing technology – will shake the industry and British ministers, and
vindicates the questions that The Independent on Sunday has been raising
over the past four months.
And Germany's official radiation protection body also advises its citizens
to use landlines instead of mobile phones, and warns of "electrosmog" from a
wide range of other everyday products, from baby monitors to electric
blankets.
The German government's ruling – which contrasts sharply with the
unquestioning promotion of the technology by British officials – was made in
response to a series of questions by Green members of the Bundestag,
Germany's parliament.
The Environment Ministry recommended that people should keep their exposure
to radiation from Wi-Fi "as low as possible" by choosing "conventional wired
connections". It added that it is "actively informing people about
possibilities for reducing personal exposure".
Its actions will provide vital support for Sir William Stewart, Britain's
official health protection watchdog, who has produced two reports calling
for caution in using mobile phones and who has also called for a review of
the use of Wi-Fi in schools. His warnings have so far been ignored by
ministers and even played down by the Health Protection Agency, which he
chairs.
By contrast the agency's German equivalent – the Federal Office for
Radiation Protection – is leading the calls for caution.
Florian Emrich, for the office, says Wi-Fi should be avoided "because people
receive exposures from many sources and because it is a new technology and
all the research into its health effects has not yet been carried out".
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