I'm thinking of adding a new "technophobe" type of denialist or crank, and my first nomination will be the Independent, and specifically their environmental editor Geoffrey Lean. His list of articles reads like the newspaper version of the Chicken Little story, and the latest? How WiFi creates "electric smog" that is harmful to children.

Britain's top health protection watchdog is pressing for a formal investigation into the hazards of using wireless communication networks in schools amid mounting concern that they may be damaging children's health, 'The Independent on Sunday' can reveal.

Sir William Stewart, the chairman of the Health Protection Agency, wants pupils to be monitored for ill effects from the networks - known as Wi-Fi - which emit radiation and are being installed in classrooms across the nation.

Sir William - who is a former chief scientific adviser to the Government, and has chaired two official inquiries into the hazards of mobile phones - is adding his weight to growing pressure for a similar examination of Wi-Fi, which some scientists fear could cause cancer and premature senility.

...

This week the Professional Association of Teachers, which represents 35,000 staff across the country, will write to Alan Johnson, Secretary of State for Education, to demand an official inquiry. Virtually no studies have been carried out into Wi-Fi's effects on pupils, but it gives off radiation similar to emissions from mobile phones and phone masts.

Recent research has linked radiation from mobiles to cancer and to brain damage. And many studies have found disturbing symptoms in people near masts.

Oh please. Electronic smog? Radiation? This is some pretty silly fear of radio signals. WiFi and cell phones emit radiation the same way your computer screen emits radiation, that is, it is non-ionizing radiation. How have people become so fearful of any part of the EM spectrum that isn't visible light? Is this a failure of the schools to give people a proper physics education? Read about health issues related to radio frequency radiation here and about cell phones here.

Cell phones have not been proven to cause cancer despite intense study. WiFi, again using a non-interacting part of the EM spectrum is not causing senility or cancer. This is technophobic fear-mongering and the Independent is absolutely full of it.

This guy must be working as a double agent for the global warming denialists, because when you put articles about global warming (and his are pretty shill examples to start with) next to this garbage science it damages the fact that there is a great deal of real research and study of climate change. It is confusing to readers, I'm sure, because there is no credible research that radiowaves from cell phones or WiFi have ill health effects. This is hysteria and undermines the credibility of legitimate environmentalism.

I rate these Independent articles accordingly.

Labels: general discussion, Technophobia