WiFi Headache - Myth or Health Risk?
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Are Wi-Fi Health Risks Real?
There are some news articles about teachers and students saying they started getting headaches and skin rashes after WiFi was installed in their school. In fact, I know a few people who complain about headaches they claim are induced by wireless routers myself. Some experts say that all WiFi health issues are just a myth, but others warn that there might be some risks we're not aware of yet. You can find out more about how wireless internet works and participate in our WiFi health risks discussion below.
The Nature of Wi-Fi Wireless Radiation
Is Wi-Fi internet a health hazard?
WiFi access points (hotspots) and wireless routers operate in 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz radio wave frequency. This electromagnetic radiation is non-ionizing (unlike X-rays, for example) and is considered harmless. According to World Health Organization, exposure to WiFi and mobile phone radiation below international guideline limits does not result in any adverse health effects.WiFi networks basically use the same frequency as microwave ovens (~2.4 GHz), although with a much lower output power. While a typical microwave will output about 800W, a basic wireless home router only uses up to 100 mW (20 dBm) - and that's the power level at the transmitter antenna itself (if you stand just 1 meter away, the exposure will be much smaller).
Still, some people claim they get headaches and feel physically ill when around Wi-Fi equipment. There's even a term called EMF sensitivity for people who can "feel" electromagnetic fields and waves. The medical and scientific community doesn't seem to consider this a real medical condition, however.
Wireless Internet and Headaches Discussion
Can a WiFi router / access point really cause headaches?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byYes, we don't know much about WiFi health risks yet.
Dave D says:
I recently spent 3 months sleeping in my front room after an ankle fusion operation. This room is a wifi weekspot from the router in my office so I installed another wifi router in my front room for my laptop and smartphone.
This router was only 1 metre from my head, I then suffered a headache progressing to earache in my right ear for 3 days, the router was located to my right side. I have now moved the router further away and my headache has gone. I now turn off this router and the wifi on my smartphone when not needed! I am convinced that prolonged exposure to a nearby wifi source can cause headaches and who knows what else, in time we will all know
Posted February 16, 2012
somename says:
I installed Wifi in my home about 3 weeks ago and I've been getting insanely bad headaches recently, enough to stop me from sleeping, I'm worried that the wifi could be the cause. When sitting at my desk I'm less than a meter away from the router. Before last night, I never even considered that wifi could cause this. So it's not the worrying that causes it for me, at least.
Posted February 08, 2012
Ellen says:
I believe it causes headaches along with other health issues.
Posted February 05, 2012
CM says:
I had WiFi installed in my home about 3 weeks ago, since then I have experienced terrible headaches, I notice that I don't have these headaches as much during the day when I am out of the house, I am wondering if it causes headaches also
Posted January 25, 2012
John says:
I suffer headaches when i go where wifi is used like supermarkets and DIY's
I cannot use WIFI at home as I suffer from Headaches
Canada and other countries say it cause cancer and there is a singnificant evidence
Posted January 17, 2012
el says:
AND I forgot... The Dizzyiness.. is a constant issue... thought at first it might be mold ... but am sure its the hotspot Clear 4g... now
Posted January 05, 2012
el says:
YES... My head and neck get tight... my ear gets blocked abd my sinuses ... get tight... as if I were catching a cold or had a sinus infection.
Posted January 05, 2012
michelle says:
Since the day it came into my home i have been dizzy i have just this second turned of the wi-fi on the router to see if it makes any difference will keep you updated
Posted January 01, 2012
Monika says:
Yes, I believe it does cause problems, just like the cell phones do. I got rid of my cell in July and feel so much better. I am one of those people who are EMF sensitive, I can't even tolerate fluorescent lighting above my head. I get nauseated. Electronics companies don't care, they just want to sell products. There must be a way to make wifi safe.
Posted December 25, 2011
concernedhusband says:
I installed a wireless router in my apartment about six year ago and my wife started getting headaches. Now anytime an office has wifi, she knows because she gets a headache. We have proven it with evidence because when she is out of range of the router, the headache slowly goes away. These symptoms are very real regardless of what the scientific community have confirmed.
Posted December 14, 2011
dood says:
i have tested wifi being on and off and placebo in my parents bedroom, they wake up with a headache every time. its not like they have heard of this and are using it as an excuse for it not to be on, they have headache when they thought it was off
Posted December 11, 2011
Charyl Zehfus says:
First, if you check the actual definition and symptoms of "Psychosomatic" illness it has a lot of required symptoms that you must have to be diagnosed, not just saying that something in the environment bothers you. Cigarette smoke bothers some people but they weren't said to be psychosomatic. So get your definitions cleared up in the other column, okay.
Credible people are reporting they are getting sick, like Brit CEO Brian Stein, even and others in the wireless industry are coming out about sensitivity they don't want, but have developed. Check out the "sensitive and inside big technology" series online, read Disconnect by epidemiologist Devra Davis, and view the Harvard Law School presentation by Dr. Adlkofer titled “Protection Against Radiation is in Conflict with Science." For studies showing harm, look at Zory Glaser list, Magda Havas site, BioInitiative Reports.
Posted December 01, 2011
Cross says:
I am a trained RF engineer and have Masters degree in Electrical engineering and have been working with RFID readers and WiFi for over 10 years now. My Dad was in medical research for 40 yrs in Pfizer and though that does not mean anything, I tend to be objective when analyzing the engineering and medical side of it.
I can confidently say I get terrible headaches when close to Wireless APs. Anytime I am working from home and in the same room as the AP, I am done. I get massive hammer like headache with tightness in the neck area and the only ONLY thing which will kill the headache is GOODY's headache powder and moving away from the router. I experience the same with even RFID readers which can put out 1 W of power and affect me from a correspondingly larger distance away so I have
Posted November 18, 2011
paulbarton says:
in my experience yes - but you have to be close to it - normally within a metre of your head
Posted October 09, 2011
joey says:
i have 2 wifi g which i've been using for 3 years and 1 wifi n modem router which i've just purchased few days ago. will suffer with headache everytime i turn on the wifi n router. off it for a while or change it to wifi g router then the headache slowly goes away. on it back and the headache comes back. not taking any risk. selling the router off for half price.
Posted October 04, 2011
gobbleupinfo says:
Years ago, in the USA at least, signs started going up, especially in gas stations that sold heated sandwiches, etc., that said "DANGER, microwave oven in use." Why? Because the medical profession finally realized that folks with Pacemakers were being affected--dangerously.
Not everyone with a Pacemaker was affected, but enough were to finally bring it to the attention of the authorities. After all, who wants to kill their customers?
Eventually, most of the signs came down. Why? Because Pacemakers were re-engineered to be shielded from microwave transmissions.
Still, folks are warned that it's a really dumb idea to stand too close to their family microwave oven when it's in use. You can't tell if the microwaves are escaping from the inside of the oven, not without the special testing device that's available to check microwave emissions from those ovens. Have you bought the device? I haven't, so I avoid being near my oven when it's running.
(I did a quick Internet check. Here's the first place I noticed: www dot lessemf dot com/mw-oven dot html. They had items from $9.95US to $545US. Their home page lists all sorts of EMF testing and shielding equipment. If you're concerned about your health, they look like a good place to start. Good luck!
The same philosophy applies to wireless gadgets. We don't know for sure what it does, or doesn't do. Too much conflicting information is floating around. Too many stories of wireless affecting folks to ignore the possibilities.
You're responsible for your own actions. If you believe WiFi (or anything else) is hurting you, whether others are willing to believe you or not, YOU must do something to protect yourself. Ignore the naysayers.
Posted September 11, 2011
Sintrix says:
I moved into a small apartment and had headaches for a year, I went through asprin bottles like crazy. I recently moved into a huge 4,000 sqft home and didn't turn on wifi for over 2 months and never got one headache. I installed my netgear router yesterday and immediately started getting headaches again. It's very noticeable if I am sitting within 5 feet of the router. That's when I realized it must be related. If I am at least 1 room away it doesn't seem to impact me much, but when I'm in the same room or within 5ft just like at my old apartment.. I get the headaches. Microwaves cook food, even if it is at a much lower power... exposure over a long time I imagine will have some effect. You can set your microwave to use lower amounts of power to cook your food and it warms up slower.. so despite what government warnings may say.. I swear this technology is slow cooking my brain lol. Seriously, if it did have negative side effects, would you really expect our government to say anything? I mean the benefits far outway the health risk... I mean even if this gives me cancer am I still going to use it? Hell yes. I've just learned to use cables or put the wifi in another room. Since I turned off the wifi and started using ethernet cables again I have felt AMAZING!
Posted September 11, 2011
Karen says:
I have been suffering from tiredness and 'brain fog' for about 7 years. I was informed a couple of months back about electromagnetic sensitivity and how wifi in particular may be having an effect on my health (my wireless broadband box was right beside my bed on 24/7). I turned off the wifi and now use the ethernet cable and can't believe the difference this has had on my brain fog!
Am not out of the woods yet with regards my tiredness (separate issues going on there) but it is so liberating to have a clear straight thinking head again! I had been so foggy over the years I remember asking my Doctor if I had alzheimers as there were days I literally couldn't think straight.
For me I don't see how it can be classed as psychosomatic as up until recently it never even crossed my mind that wireless could be the cause of my brain fog.
Posted September 10, 2011
emin says:
omg that's so true i have recently instlled a wifi modem since then i've been having really bad headache !!!!!
Posted August 15, 2011
MikT says:
YES, for certain I get WiFi headaches!
Posted July 21, 2011
Crystal says:
EVERYDAY in my classroom (only class that physically has the little WIFI white box on the roof) I get the same headache EVERYDAY same spot, same feeling. It sucks
Posted March 28, 2011
Pete says:
It can and it does cause headaches. For many people complaining about headaches, they find relief when they move away from the wifi field.
This claim that it is all psychosomatic is idiotic. The high frequency RF signals can be measured and are huge in the > 2.5GHz spectrum from a standard WIFI router.
The major concern is that while a small percentage of people are feeling the signals today, this will dramatically increase, especially in the young.
There is no NEED for wifi, it is an exotic toy. Once you become sensitive, and you will, life becomes quite difficult.
There is plenty of evidence for dna damage in young girls eggs, so that reproduction can become impossible or at minimum their childrens health will be impaired.
Wifi is being removed from schools in many countries around the world due to health concerns. http://www.emfacts.com/wifi/ is useful, as is "Public Health SOS: The Shadow Side Of The Wireless Revolution"
by Camilla Rees and Magda Havas. Also check out Barry Trower on youtube - He is an ex Brit Military Intelligence scientist who dealt with this in the cold war. He knows his stuff, and is not happy with the authorities.
Ask anyone who says that it is safe, for the scientific proof. Everything else is opinion.
Posted February 10, 2011
mp says:
??
Posted January 31, 2011
penhead says:
I want to thank babyfacemagoo for a detailed and well thought out post. My opinion on the wifi health risks is very similar.
Did you know that mere 100 years ago people believed radioactive water was actually healthy for you? Companies advertised "Radon Water" as a health drink. There were all kinds of other radioactive products too, such as uranium blankets or medicines containing thorium.
It's very easy to look at this with disdain now that we know radiation is harmful, but who's to say that 25-50 years from now on people won't look back with contempt about how we could've been so stupid as to expose ourselves to electromagnetic smog?
Posted December 23, 2010
babyfacemagoo says:
History is filled with examples of the greater scientific or medical community not recognizing various ailments until many years later when more data is available.
Take SSRI's (usucally called antidepressants/anti-anxiety drugs) as just one example. At first they were touted as 'non addictive'. After twenty years of use however they are now known to cause SSRI withdrawal syndrome...basically a polite term for addiction for most people that are on them for any more than a few months.
The effects a patient might feel when going off these drugs can be anything from electric shock feelings in the head, to massive depression and anxiety and uncontrollable aggression and rage...all induced by the brain re-adjusting to not relying on the drug anymore. There's nothing 'wrong' with the person...it's all an addiction response to stopping the drug. These conditions go away once the brain has a chance to adjust and rebalance itself now that it is now 'addicted to the ssri.
For the first ten+ years that ssri's were out tens of thousands of people experienced these effects and more and the pharmaceutical industry and gov't denied it existed. But it's not hard to see why...if you study who pays for the vast majority of tests that claim they don't have these effects...they are paid for by the pharmaceutical companies either directly or indirectly. There is enormous test-bias.
Only if you look at a meta-study will you start to see the difference in results from the studies. You'll notice those that are truly independent have very different conclusions than those paid for by the companies.
The same thing happens in all industries. Look at cell phones and cancer. The same thing is happening right now. Meta studies have shown that those studies paid for indirectly or directly by the cell phone companies or the organizations that receive money from them tend to say there is no connection. Yet the bulk of the studies that receive no money from the wireless carriers DO show a higher correlation of cancer and cell phone use. Unfortunately this kind of 'test bias' is epidemic. You really have to be VERY careful to look into the methodology and funding of studies...they are often rigged one way or another depending on how the test is set up and what conclusion the testers 'want' to come up with.
Do wireless signals constitute a health hazard? It wouldn't surprise me at all if they do. But don't wait until the gov't comes around to say it. That could be 20 years from now...and too late.
Posted December 02, 2010
fabrizio says:
There are scientific articles published in peer reviewed journals demonstrating that radiations analogous to wifi's determine sleep defects and impairment even when individuals are not really conscious about that (e.g. Arnetz et al.,2007 in PIERS o Hardell et al on the INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR MEDICINE). So, the fact that WHO didn't demonstrate a correlation with cancer or other gross health defects does not mean that there may be other more subtle and long term effects on human health. Probably peoples claimining "scientifically" that there are no effects have never read scientific papers about that! Personally i felt that i sleep bad with the cell phone on around even before to read these things.
Posted November 29, 2010
Peter F. says:
(adding to my previous comment)... I know not everyone is impacted equally from wifi or cell phones. I realize that most people feel no effect at all.
Posted November 26, 2010
Peter F. says:
I get headaches / brain fog from wifi and using cell phones. With cell phone, I get this headache / brian fog almost immediately, with wifi it is within a few minutes of use. Because of this, I cannot use the cell phone directly next to my head - I've found that some (not all) Bluetooth cell phone headsets allow me to use my cell phone. I do not use wifi. As Ralph has stated below - my headaches also are not typical headaches, it is a brain foggy / tingle feeling. It can be difficult to get rid of... If I get one of these, I've found that the homeopathic medicine Belladonna helps to get rid of the discomfort - not immediately, but over a few hours or days.
Posted November 26, 2010
megahurtz says:
I used to work for apple promoting wifi products - until I got sick from them - I got nausea, back pains, brain fog - and it all went away when I got rid of wifi and went back to ethernet. Then I decided to read about how it works - pulsed digital beacon signal from the base station - all the time pumping away - into your brain even when you are not on the computer! That is what is killing the leaves on the trees in holland.
Posted November 24, 2010
No, it's all psychosomatic - worrying is what causes it.
bsjhw says:
you guys don't help!!!
Posted February 01, 2012
David J says:
I've used a WiFi router at home since 2004, and am on a Wi-Fi enables university campus for 4 days a week (I'm a mature student). I've not had more headaches since using Wifi, neither has may wife (Who is generally prone to headaches, and has been since childhood in the 1950's).
Unless a majority of peer-reviewed articles show a conclusive link, it's all in the mind - something for the tinfoil hat mob.
Posted November 15, 2011
John says:
I get severe headache when near WI-FI and iam now limited to where i can go and work
Posted August 04, 2011
dak393 says:
But don't we all have cancer from are phones already? :P What's to worry about WI-FI (lol)
Posted June 08, 2011
Squidoo_For_You says:
I think some real research needs to be done. I have not seen and conclusive results proving or disproving this theory. It is also to soon to see side effects from wifi as it so new and only becoming widespread now. If you have radiation poising you only see the effects after weeks, months and years, you don't get a headache after a day trip to Chernobyl!
Posted April 24, 2011
Jack says:
The fact that radio waves permeate every fraction of the Earth's surface means that human's have mostly evolved to deal with it. Ionizing radiation, the stuff that is actually known to cause cancer, only does so in very large and prolonged doses, that or kills you outright with radiation sickness (which there isn't really much room for debate about). With this in mind, doesn't it seem far more likely that the placebo effect (which has been shown conclusively to be capable of 'miraculous' positive effects: (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1006924/?tool=pmcentrez)) could easily be capable of generating any and all perceived side effects of WiFi coverage?
Posted March 20, 2011
Scott says:
Can anyone say Pla-ce-bo?
Posted March 13, 2011
Bus_Stop_Toy_Shop says:
I spend all day every day in a small shop with a Wifi Network - never done mw any harm.
Posted October 09, 2010
Chadrew says:
I know a person who recently got a wireless router and was complaining that it was giving them headaches. But walking through their apartment with NetStumbler on, we found no less than 5 active wireless networks. In all likelihood they've been there for a while, and the tenants never noticed or had any complains about headaches. I'm pretty sure human body isn't capable of "feeling" radio waves emitted by wireless tech in any way.
Posted October 09, 2010
The Shadow Side Of The Wireless Revolution
An interesting book about the hidden wifi health risks.
Public Health SOS: The Shadow Side Of The Wireless Revolution
Amazon Price: $15.77 (as of 02/22/2012)
The authors of this book seem to be concerned about what effects the unstoppable spread of cell phone towers and wireless technologies are going to have on our health and on the environment. They present a pretty solid case and include quotes from scientists and researchers.
Dr. Magda Havas, PhD is a recognized expert in the biological effects of environmental contaminants, including radiofrequency radiation and electromagnetic fields. Camilla Rees is a health and environmental activist.
Buy it on BookDepository and get worldwide free shipping.
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- Ontario teachers urge WiFi blackout at schools, fearing cancer risk
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- PCTEL Achieves $20.0 Million in Fourth Quarter Revenue
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- Smith Micro Software's CEO Discusses Q4 2011 Results - Earnings Call Transcript
- Before we begin the call, I want to caution that on this call, the company may make forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, forward-looking statements related to the company's financial prospects ...
Wireless Internet Health Poll
Cast your vote and see what others think.
Comments
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John_Michael Dec 4, 2011 @ 3:56 pm | delete
- I have no idea, but this headache has been with me all day...
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jesika
Sep 4, 2011 @ 8:46 pm | delete
- It took me 5 years to figure out my home wifi was giving me horrible headaches. I have the wifi setup in my husbands home office (in the closet). My home office is setup in the spare room next to his office. Whenever I'm in my office I get a pretty bad headache...sometimes I can feel nauseous too. It's awful. It got to the point where I just stopped using my home office. We also had a wifi repeater setup in our family room. I would not experience as many headaches there. I think the repeater isn't as powerful as the main wifi box. I had always suspected my headaches were from the wifi but didn't fully figure it out until I went on vacation where the vacation home I rented had the wifi setup in the kitchen. Every time I went in the kitchen...BAM...splitting headache. We finally turned off the wifi and the rest of my vacation was headache free. I feel pretty foolish that it took me years to figure it out. Now, at home, we abandoned the wifi and are back to using ethernet. So far, no headache. I'm a little worried about 5 years of constant exposure has done to me. We rarely turned off the wifi at home. Scary.
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Baraeris
Jul 16, 2011 @ 3:07 pm | delete
- If it were possible to be allergic to wifi, or have any other adverse health effects from it, then wifi would really be among the least of your worries. There are other EM fields we are exposed to on a daily basis that are much more powerful and pervasive than simple wifi. Again, if wifi could cause adverse health effects then you've got bigger things to worry about.
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travis_knolls
Sep 4, 2011 @ 8:33 pm | delete
- Just because you and/or perhaps anyone you know does not suffer from WIFI RF does not mean it cannot affect other people. You're opinion is short sighted. if someone is experiencing adverse effects and they turn off or remove themselves from the source...headache gone....seems elementary. It took me a few years (sad to say) to figure out wifi was my problem. imagine headaches for 3 to 4 straight years. i finally switched back to ethernet and i've been headache free. now i just need to figure out how to get far enough away from the wifi box at work. there's one 5 feet away from my desk and it's killing me!
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MindMart
Jun 22, 2011 @ 10:49 am | delete
- Many people have nagging complaints -- headache, sinus, sore throat, short attention span -- that they just put down to stress or poor eating habits when it could be wi-fi signals that are
muddling your bain. European countries have quicker to ban it than we have.
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emmalarkins
Oct 8, 2010 @ 10:04 pm | delete
- Interesting topic. I didn't know this was an issue!
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by Chadrew
I got interested in the topic when I was setting up a wireless network for my apartment. I was surprised to see 4 more WiFi networks in the range, too... more »
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