Panorama response

An investigation by the BBC programme Panorama (21 May 2007, BBC One, 8.30pm) found that Wireless Computer Network (wi-fi) in a school in Norwich had a peak radiation that was three times the level of a typical mobile phone mast.  As a result of this Sir William Stewart, chairman of the Health Protection Agency, has called for an inspection of the health effects of wi-fi.
 
Geoff Thaxter, Director of Services at CLIC Sargent, the UK’s leading children’s cancer charity, welcomed the Health Protection Agency’s review of potential health risks linked to wi-fi internet in schools, but urged haste, saying:
 
“We will be watching Panorama tonight with great interest and concern.  It is important for programmes like Panorama to highlight issues such as this, particularly if it leads to the Government and the Health Protection Agency taking them more seriously.  It is important to stress, however, that there is currently no conclusive evidence to link the radiation from wi-fi internet networks with increased incidences of childhood cancer.  As with mobile phones, wi-fi is such a new technology that it will be really difficult to understand the long term effects of it. 
 
“Let us not fill the gap of knowledge with sensational headlines that scare parents.  We urge the Government and the Health Protection Agency to investigate this quickly and make the results widely available.”   
 
Notes to editors:

For further information please contact Zoë Grumbridge, Assistant Press Officer, CLIC Sargent, tel: 020 8752 2833, mob: 07917 805489, e-mail: zoe.grumbridge@clicsargent.org.uk.