Radiation from Wi-Fi can be harmful to trees and crops, recent research from a Dutch University suggests.
Published online, the Wagening University, Holland, research findings indicate the use of Wi-Fi can be harmful to deciduous trees, especially in urban areas. Ash trees in the urban environment are “increasingly” experiencing growth issues and experienced cracks, discolouration on leaves and various forms of tissue necrosis.
The research involved three months of experiments using six sources of radiation of varying frequencies. After a few months, trees exposed to the radiation displayed a “metallic lustre appearance, a discolouration of the leaves that appeared to result in the disappearance of the outer cell layer of the leaves”.
Desiccation and death
The research also found that metallic lustre was followed by desiccation and death of a portion of the leaf.
While the study asserts that this electromagnetic radiation does damage trees and crops, it says the damage cannot be conclusively determined from the study alone.
“An association between the studied Wi-Fi radiation and the wide range of symptoms in adult trees cannot be explicitly placed on the basis of the present study.”
No consistent evidence
The World Health Organisation (WHO), which acknowledged that electromagnetic fields (EMFs) are influencing the environment and not people, has established the International EMF Project to assess the scientific evidence of possible health effects of EMF, while the Health Protection Agency’s (HPA) official position is that “there is no consistent evidence to date that exposure to radio signals from Wi-Fi and WLANs adversely affects the health of the general population … the HPA sees no reason why Wi-Fi should not continue to be used in schools and in other places”.
For more information on the research, click here (and click translate).
