The impact of the router on the human body. Harm of WiFi to health - detailed analysis

A router, or as it is commonly called a router, is a device that selects the optimal route for transmitting information from the provider to devices using the Internet.

Due to the absence of wires, information is transmitted using EM radiation. Considering that the operation of the router is ensured by ultra-high frequencies, it is worth thinking about whether this radiation is harmful to humans?

According to the results of some research experiments, this information is confirmed, while others completely refute it. Let's look at the arguments of both sides.

We will not find sufficient information in the description of the device in question, but the truth lies in the exact characteristics of the equipment. Let's analyze the numbers. The Wi-Fi router operates at a frequency of 2.4 GHz with an approximate power of 100 mW.

Under the influence of such parameters, the temperature of human brain cells increases, which leads to irreversible negative consequences.

Nature assumes that such frequencies help organs and all functioning systems of the human body exchange information. If there is prolonged exposure to Wi-Fi radiation, the process of cell growth and division can be significantly disrupted.

The distance from the localization of wireless communications and the data transmission speed of the wifi router aggravate the harmful effects on humans. An example would be the enormous speed of information transfer when downloading video files, images and other large data.

In this case, air acts as the transmitting medium. Human cells tend to exchange energy at different frequencies, so the adverse effects of the frequency range of a wifi router take place.

Residents of high-rise buildings are influenced by a large number of wifi routers that are located in neighboring apartments. The range of action of this device is only slightly reduced under the obstacle of building structures, but they cannot completely neutralize the background.

In addition, there are a great many wireless access points to the World Wide Web around: shopping centers, entertainment venues, shops, offices. Almost 24 hours a day, people are under the gun of a Wi-Fi router, which not many turn off even at night.

To summarize, we can say with confidence that the human body constantly fights against this negative radiation. It is likely that such exposure does not allow many people to fully restore strength even during sleep, and the immune system ceases to fight many infections that come from the environment.

Of course, the use of a wireless Internet connection must be compensated at some cost, but health is not something worth trading for such benefits. Let's figure out how dangerous Wi-Fi radiation is. To assess the influence of this factor on the human body, a special parameter has been introduced - “absolute optical radiation power”.

Also, do not forget that a wifi router is located much further from a person than a cell phone. As a rule, it is installed at a distance of 1-2 meters. The intensity of radiation exposure decreases in direct proportion to the increase in the distance from the router to the “irradiated” one.

If you are still afraid of the negative impact of radiating waves from the router, then you can reduce it a little. For example, adjust the signal strength by reducing it.

Few people know this function, since most users operate this device at the factory settings, which are set to full. And, if you advise your neighbors to do the same, then the level of radiation exposure will be reduced tenfold.

IMPORTANT! Undoubtedly, a wifi router has some effect on the human body, but how great is this harm? Comparing the performance and performance of other household appliances, the following figures were summed up:

The signal intensity of a microwave oven is 100,000 times higher than the radiation of a wifi router;
If you sum up the signal intensity of two routers and 20 laptops, it will be equivalent to the operation of one cellular device.
If the most stubborn skeptic remains unconvinced, then by following the simplest rules you can protect yourself even more:
Install the device no closer than 40 cm from the desktop, do not leave it turned on overnight;
If there is no need to use the Internet, turn off the router at this time;
Do not place the laptop on your lap for long periods of time.

How to protect yourself from electromagnetic smog

Electromagnetic smog is the background that is emitted from sources of the same name.

Of course, there are a number of actions that can protect against such influence.

Creative and smart manufacturers have invented special wallpaper for apartments that can screen the radiation emanating from neighboring wifi routers. Such accessories can be purchased in foreign online stores. But do not forget that this specific operation will also interfere with signal conduction between rooms in the apartment itself where the router is installed.
The medical market produces another invention - a corrector of the functional state of the human body. A wide range of such products offers the purchase of a fabric blanket with carbon thread. Thanks to the bipolar fabric, this accessory is able to reflect EM radiation emanating from all the equipment that we use in everyday life.

Conclusion

Thanks to four factors: frequency, power, distance and time, we can say that radiation from a wifi router negatively affects the human body.

But today there is no real evidence of this, so it is better to once again further protect yourself.

Wi-Fi in the subway, in the park, in cafes and restaurants... It’s hard to imagine the life of a modern person without Wi-Fi. This type of wireless communication is very convenient and has long been hailed as a safer alternative to the radio communications used by cell phones. But it turns out that not everything is so simple.

Since the discovery of this type of data transmission in 1997, many studies have been carried out. The results are clear: humanity is still far from discovering safe wireless communications. This is what those who study the effects of Wi-Fi on living organisms warn us about:

1. Development of insomnia

Have you ever felt more energetic after using Wi-Fi? This phenomenon is not at all uncommon, and in 2007 there was even a study conducted on the effect of mobile phones on sleep. Participants were exposed to electromagnetic radiation from regular phones or were near dummy phones that did not emit a signal. The results showed that electromagnetic radiation increases the time it takes to fall asleep and changes brain waves.

It has been suggested that sleeping near a phone or Wi-Fi signal may trigger chronic problems, as constant exposure to such studies negatively affects sleep.

Lack of sleep often causes many other problems. For example, the development of depression and hypertension is associated with disrupted sleep patterns.

Exit: Turn off your router transmitting the Wi-Fi signal before going to bed. Or at least turn off your cell phone if you keep it handy even at night.

2. Developmental disorders in children

Exposure to radiation from Wi-Fi and cell phones can disrupt normal cell development, especially in developing organisms. A 2004 animal study links radiation to delayed kidney formation. These results are supported by a 2009 Australian study. The effect on cellular protein was so strong that the researchers specifically emphasized: “These properties are especially noticeable in growing tissues, that is, in children and young people. Consequently, these groups will be more sensitive to the described effects." In other words, the constant impact of healing on a growing organism can cause disturbances in physiological and mental development.

Exit: Don’t rush to gift your children with fashionable gadgets with Wi-Fi connectivity. Perhaps in today’s children’s environment it’s “not cool” to be without a smartphone, but to have health problems on top of that is doubly not cool.

3. Effect on cell growth

Even Danish schoolchildren know that Wi-Fi can have a negative impact on growth rates. Several years ago, a group of ninth-graders from Denmark, led by teachers, conducted a study on the effect of wireless Wi-Fi routers on garden lettuce. Some plants were placed in a room without Wi-Fi, while others were placed next to two routers that emit the same signal as cell phones. As a result, plants exposed to radiation did not grow. The impressed guys, they say, even stopped putting their phones under their pillows.

Exit: Do not keep your Wi-Fi router in the bedroom, especially in the nursery.

4. Decreased brain activity in women

A group of 30 healthy volunteers, 15 men and 15 women, took a simple memory test. First, the entire group was tested without any exposure to Wi-Fi radiation and passed the test without any problems. Subjects were then exposed to 2.4 GHz radiation for 45 minutes. This time, women experienced a significant decrease in brain activity and energy levels. However, men should not relax too much...

Exit: Ladies should keep this in mind and use Wi-Fi less while working.

5. Sperm decontamination

Human and animal studies have confirmed the negative effects of Wi-Fi on sperm. Experimental results prove that Wi-Fi radiation reduces sperm activity and provokes DNA fragmentation.

Exit: How many times have men been told - don’t carry smartphones in your pants pockets.

6. Impact on female fertility

The negative impact extends not only to sperm. An animal study suggests that wireless communication may interfere with egg implantation. During the study, mice were irradiated for 2 hours for 45 days, which significantly increased their levels of oxidative stress. Damage to cells and DNA structure as a result of radiation indicates the possibility of an abnormal pregnancy and impaired egg implantation.

Exit: Take the advice from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden in 2011: “Pregnant women are advised not to use wireless technology and to stay away from those who use it.” The basis for this statement was that "current safety standards for radio frequency and microwave radiation from wireless devices do not take into account fetal development."

How to protect yourself

While society ignores numerous warnings, researchers have developed several methods that can provide protection. For example, decreased melatonin levels are definitely associated with radiation, so supplemental doses of melatonin will help mitigate some of the effects. In animal studies, L-carnitine has been shown to be an antioxidant for substances affected by 2.4 GHz radiation.

It is important to remember that although melatonin and L-carnitine provide protection, they do not reduce radiation levels. In the modern world this is difficult to achieve. We are surrounded by wireless networks and are almost constantly exposed to radiation. However, it is possible to reduce these harmful effects. First, stop holding your phone, tablet, or laptop close to your body. Do not place the router in the bedroom or other places where you relax. Turn off your router when you are not using the Internet. In addition, many devices are now available that block electromagnetic radiation.

Modern man cannot imagine existence without the Internet. Many devices have Wi-Fi modules built into them. In restaurants and cafes there is a router that allows visitors to connect a laptop or smartphone to the Internet. There are also wifi lovers who buy a router for their home. But is there any harm from such radiation, does Wi-Fi affect a person’s well-being?

Does WIFI harm human health?

There is conflicting information on the Internet. There is evidence that wifi is harmful to humans, other authors claim that all radiation is harmful, and in comparison with them, Wi-Fi is safe. It is fashionable to talk about the harm caused by continuous radiation. But so far there are no hard facts proving that wifi is harmful to humans. After years of using equipment such as a router, such information may appear.

But these are relatively new technologies, so no studies have yet been conducted that would reassure or upset the public. Scientists claim that this radiation does not have a positive effect on living organisms, including human cells, but no one is talking about severe harm yet. Let's consider all the arguments for and against.

No harm

It is impossible to hide from radiation sources in the city

A person, especially if he lives in a city, in an apartment, surrounds himself with a huge amount of technology. Why do many people think that Wi-Fi is harmful to health?

Thus, the radiation intensity of wifi is 100 thousand times less than that of a microwave oven. This was proven by Professor Malcolm Sperrin, it is not so harmful.
The level of radiation emanating from the router and other devices is 600 times lower than the standards that are now considered safe for humans, if we take radiation standards.
A mobile phone is a device that is in everyone’s pocket: from schoolchildren to pensioners. We quickly became accustomed to the available device. Meanwhile, the harm from it is much greater. Researchers from the UK's Health Protection Agency say that a person who spoke on the phone for 20 minutes received the same amount of radiation as someone who used Wi-Fi for a year.
Professor Laurie Chellis made a statement in which he explained that Wi-Fi is not harmful to health if you do not keep the laptop on your lap, but put it on the table.
The power of electromagnetic radiation depends on the distance at which the radiation source is located. The greater the distance, the less radiation: power is inversely proportional to the square of the distance. The router is located at some distance from the person, so it does not have a serious impact on his health, even if he installed it at home, in another room.

There are many sources of radiation around us: computer, TV, mobile phone. Even if you completely give up Wi-Fi, you will not be able to protect yourself from other waves. They are everywhere, and it is impossible to hide from them in the city.

Harmful

Research shows significant harm to health

But other studies show significant harm to health. According to this data, the influence of Wi-Fi is not safe, as they try to convince us of it.

Schoolgirls experiment

And not enough research has been done in this area, otherwise scientists would have found out that it affects human health. Danish schoolchildren, ninth graders, decided to conduct an experiment that you can repeat at home. This idea was prompted by their poor health, which they associated specifically with wifi.

They took lettuce seeds and planted them in 12 containers. Of these, six trays were placed in a room where there was no access to Wi-Fi, and the remaining 6 were placed in a room where there were two routers. After two weeks, it became clear that the seeds that were in the ordinary room had sprouted. And everyone else who was in the apartment with Wi-Fi suffered from radiation and died.

Biology teacher Kim Horsewad said her students' experiment sparked a lively discussion. Employees of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden want to repeat this experiment, but in laboratory conditions.

Affects concentration

Wi-Fi affects children's health

Danish scientists conducted several tests. They asked school-aged children to place a mobile phone with Wi-Fi turned on under their pillow in the evening. We measured the strength of radiation emanating from a mobile phone and from a wifi network router. In the morning the boys were examined. We found out that Wi-Fi affects the health of children, because the majority showed vascular spasms and deterioration of attention, they concentrated worse.

But these studies showed the effect of radiation on children, but schoolchildren have thinner skulls than adults, so it cannot be said that wifi has a negative effect on everyone and is harmful.

For men's sperm

One cannot but be surprised by the results of studies proving the influence of Wi-Fi radiation on men’s health.

Experiment. For the experiment, 30 adult and physically healthy men were selected, and a sperm sample was taken from them. First, it was analyzed to confirm the number of active or dead sperm. Then the samples were divided into two parts and one of them was placed next to a computer connected to a wifi network. They experienced the radiation emanating from the devices. The rest were placed in another room.

Scientists have found that Wi-Fi negatively affects men's health

Results. The analysis showed that the sample that was affected by radiation suffered more severely - 25% of the sperm died in it, while in the other samples this figure was less - 14%. Scientists analyzed the samples and found that the radiation caused other changes. After measuring deoxyribonucleic acid, it became clear that in the surviving sperm of those who were not exposed to Wi-Fi, the change was 3%, and in the rest - three times more.

For the purity of the experiment, similar experiments were carried out, but with a computer connected to a wired network. Then the difference between the prototypes was not noticeable. The experiment showed that Wi-Fi radiation affects the quality of men's sperm, so those who are just planning to become a father should not use such Internet or do not keep a laptop on their lap.

How to protect yourself

Recently there has been talk about the dangers of radiation. Increasingly, the question has begun to be raised that it causes cancer, dementia, heart failure, memory impairment, etc. However, there is no official conclusion that would confirm the harm of Wi-Fi. But in other countries (Germany, England, USA) the issue of banning wifi in universities, schools, and hospitals is increasingly being raised. Many people refuse to install a router at home, preferring to use another type of communication.

Phobia

But it is important that justified fears do not develop into a phobia, since there is no evidence yet to confirm the serious impact of radiation on human health. But some companies benefit from heating up the situation and making money on people’s fears. So, trying to protect themselves, some people buy clothes made of foil or cover their walls with wallpaper made of this material. And someone is profiting from this by selling rolls for $800.

How to protect yourself from the influence of Wi-Fi?

There are also those who leave their favorite job, friends, family and move to the northeastern United States, to the Green Bank settlement. This is a real refuge for those who are afraid of electromagnetic waves, because on an area of 33 thousand square meters there is no equipment, it is prohibited, like gasoline-powered cars. This zone appeared in 1958, and these innovations are not for the sake of human health, but for the sake of the accurate operation of telescopes. There is no television, radio, microwaves, cell phones or wireless internet.

People who have discovered sensitivity to electromagnetic radiation come here. They claim that it gives them pain, nausea, heart palpitations, etc. But WHO in most countries does not recognize this disease, despite the fact that 2-5% of Europeans and Americans experience these symptoms.

What to do?

How can those who do not want to leave civilization protect themselves?

For your computer, choose cable internet.
Remember that if the router is not near you (with your neighbors, in another room), the harm from it is minimal.
If you do not use the Internet, turn off Wi-Fi. In phones that you carry in your pocket, turn off the wifi function.
Protect your child from the effects of radiation. The baby should not play all day in the room where the router is located.
Don't keep your laptop on your lap.

And remember that the harm from wifi radiation is several times less than from the same mobile phones, so there’s no need to panic.

Agree, today at almost every moment of time a person is closely connected to the Internet with the help of an endless list of equipment and software. And a huge credit for all this goes to wireless technology. But is it safe? Especially considering that the number of routers and mobile devices around us is growing every day. So let's find out if WiFi is actually harmful or if we're just being scared.

What kind of animal is this

Wifi is a standard for wireless device communication. It is carried out using a radio frequency signal in the range from 2.4 to 5 GHz. Sometimes - for research purposes - this happens at frequencies up to 20 GHz, but such high frequencies are not used in household appliances and gadgets.

The most popular standards for such a network today are: a, b, g, n and ac. Data transfer speeds are growing and growing, and network security is increasing.

This is cool, conveniences are conveniences, but all this should somehow affect our health, shouldn’t it?

Rumors and fiction

Now let's look at WiFi from the other side. And let’s listen to what people sometimes say about him:

“It emits harmful radiation!”
“Electromagnetic fields from wireless devices are dangerous!”
“It seems that this radiation is even radioactive!”

Yes, it sounds funny. But, as they say, there is a grain of humor in every joke.

Let's try to figure it out anyway.

And let's start with the fact that Wifi is a radio signal. However, unlike the usual everyday radio devices, such as mobile phones, radios, etc., this communication standard operates in a higher frequency range.

For comparison, a regular radio receiver operates in the range from 50 to 150 MHz, military radio stations - in the range up to 500 MHz, mobile phones in 4G\LTE networks - about 1900 MHz. Compare these values with 2.4 and 5 GHz. This is a thousand times more!

At first glance, the figure seems scary. Many people have heard about such a thing as background radio radiation, which has a harmful effect on the body, and there may be a misconception that the higher the frequency of the signal and the closer it is, the more harmful it is.

Objectively, it must be said that any radio signal by nature affects atoms and molecules, including living cells of the body. However, the frequency range of such a signal must oscillate with a constant amplitude, be focused and have colossal strength, and also influence the object constantly and purposefully.

WiFi dissipates and the high frequency - as it only seems - cannot affect the body in principle. Even access points with a large number of antennas, operating in different bands and distributing signals to devices, do not have nearly the required strength to cause any minor harm.

For comparison: a mobile phone, which is in the pocket of any modern person every day, compared to a Wi-Fi radio signal, causes many times more harm. Although also very, very insignificant.

Field of evil and danger without wires

Rumors about some type of field being emitted by a router can only be substantiated by the nature of the device itself. In electronics terms, any device that has some charge in it is capable of producing a background electrostatic and electromagnetic field.

Of course, both types of these fields can cause harm to human health if they are of sufficient strength and intensity. Also, do not forget about the time of influence of the field on the body.

The concentration of force, as well as the intensity of the field influence, directly depends on the distance at which both the object of influence and the source of the field are located.

The values of the electromagnetic and electrostatic fields in the background of the WiFi router are so small that it is simply not possible to cause any harm.

And only if you carry the access point in your pocket with you 24 hours a day (yes, imagine, if you have a good imagination) without turning it off, you can get some slight harmful effect.

It is worth noting that the magnetic field from the monitor of your personal computer and its system unit is much greater, since it is concentrated and directed, but it is simply not capable of having a negative impact, since it does not have the required configuration and strength.

Sinister radiation: a fiction on a universe scale

Radiation is another term that can scare any user of wireless communication technology. Indeed, the harmful effects of radiation are difficult to underestimate. It seriously affects the cells of the human body and leads to harmful consequences. However, can an Internet connection pose a risk to human health?

And again let's look at everything around us. Almost any device has its own radiation background, and any electronics also emits radiation. For example, a mobile phone, which is practically constantly in use, has a radiation background, and long conversations on it can affect body tissues, including brain tissue.

If you take the same router, then you can detect a weak radiation background. But this is only background radiation - the same that surrounds a person everywhere. It is not capable of creating or causing any more harm than the desk on which your personal computer sits or the air we breathe every day.

Therefore, you can safely forget about radiation and its danger, since not a single access point is capable of creating such a background that will negatively affect human health in any way.

Is Wi-Fi harmful? Not at all!

As you can see, none of the above factors can affect the health of a person and an active user of a wireless network. Something good does not have to be compensated by something bad, and the Internet without borders is an unconditional confirmation of this principle.

In answer to your question about whether Wi-Fi is harmful, our answer is short: “no, relax.”

The World Wide Web of the Internet has tightly enveloped the entire modern world. Today it is difficult to imagine the work of banks, shops, cafes, airports, and various institutions without the Internet. Many of us strive to use it without various obstacles and barriers. This, of course, is facilitated by wi-fi, invented in 1991. It has been used by people for almost a quarter of a century, but information about its harmful effects on humans is not distributed.

This device emits low frequency waves equal to 2.4 GHz, the same as in. US scientists have found that radio waves with a frequency of 0.5-2.4 GHz have an adverse effect on humans. The nervous system is the first to subtly receive negative effects wireless connections. American medical workers have begun to see patients with headaches, general malaise, and a sharp decrease in vision more often. Researchers from Denmark have already warned: wi-fi - negatively affects living organisms and causes headaches. It also turned out that some people are susceptible to allergic reactions to “invisible” wireless networks. Migraines became more frequent. Doctors do not claim that the increase in patients is associated only with widespread wi-fi, since its impact on humans has not been fully studied.

But scientists have already discovered harm from these frequencies. For example, specialists from Sweden found that this type of radiation deteriorates memory, thinking, even the absorption of calcium in the body worsens, and “fatigue syndrome” occurs. There are hypotheses about the influence wi-fi on a living organism at the cellular level. In particular, it is stated about changes in DNA and the appearance of chromosomes - mutants.

Western scientists have clearly confirmed that nets are harmful to a growing organism. Many interested and competent parents are sounding the alarm, worried about the health of their children. Therefore, many schools and preschools in the US and UK have introduced a ban on wi-fi.

Wi-fi technologies have a pathogenic reaction on all living things, including plants. Interested companies, of course, oppose the conclusions of scientists and claim that radiation on organisms is minimal and absolutely harmless. But many studies have already been conducted that prove the opposite.

For example, scientists at the oldest University of Wageningen in the Netherlands decided to conduct a scientific experiment, and for a quarter the close radiation of wi-fi to trees (ash) did not stop. After the study period, signs of radiation damage were found on the trees: darkened, wrinkled leaves, a decrease in the amount of moisture in the plants, cracks in the trunks and general wilting of the ash trees.

There is also a widely known case of observing the impact of a constantly running router near planted plants. This happened in Denmark, according to Newsru.com with reference to ABC News. Students began to notice a deterioration in attention, concentration, and concentration in classes if they fell asleep at night with their mobile phone connected to the network. It’s impossible to conduct an experiment without special tools, so he and his biology teacher, Kim Horsweid, decided to experiment with plants.

High school girls planted watercress in boxes, half of them were placed in a room with wi-fi turned on, and the other half in a room without wireless networks. After two weeks in the second room, the seeds sprouted safely and began to germinate, but the seeds that were under the influence of frequencies sprouted poorly and weak sprouts appeared, darkened and died. The clarity of the experiment is undeniable and this has interested world scientists, for example, a professor at Karolinska University in Sweden, who may be studying this phenomenon with scientific precision in laboratory conditions.

There has been a lot of discussion about this in Denmark. Some denied the harmful effects of routers and found other versions of this phenomenon, for example, the lack of moisture in plants. But what smartphones and other devices connected to wireless networks are potentially dangerous to human health, it is quite acceptable.

The experiments carried out with plants make us think and protect the person himself from the harmful effects of such a familiar, daily used gadget.

For example, in several Canadian schools, parents of students suggested that the educational institution use only wired Internet technologies, as students complained of headaches, nausea, insomnia and rapid heartbeat due to the use of wireless Internet. Of course, more serious and global research work is required to deeply study the negative effects of wi-fi on the human body. Technologies should be released and implemented on a large scale after more detailed and in-depth study of them.

In apartment buildings, almost every family uses technology wireless Internet transmissions. For example, when setting up to connect to wi-fi in the yard near the entrance, several dozen logins “pop up”. We do not pay attention to the harmful effects of networks on our own cells, on the health of our loved ones. Also next door to us live grandparents, those people who do not need the Internet at all, and especially its negative impact on the body. And low-frequency waves cover vast distances without barriers or obstacles. This is similar to “passive smoking”.

Therefore, it is necessary to think about this issue and, taking care of the future, take measures to protect your loved ones from this seemingly invisible “threat”. We also must not forget about the people living nearby, show respect, responsibility and care. While we cannot say for sure how much harm wi-fi causes, it may cause less harm than other household appliances and means of communication. But in order to be calm for our health and the people around us, we must adhere to the basic rules:

Turn off the router at night or for periods when the Internet is not in use;
Keep children away from sources of radio waves if possible;
Install the router away from the workplace;
Do not hold the device receiving the signal on your lap.

All the best and harmonious to everyone!