* * * RADIO WAVES ARE NOT X-RAYS * * *   
IS WI-FI SAFE? YES.
A PUSU Fact Sheet for Young People · draft for schools
THE CLAIM
The radio waves from Wi-Fi routers and phones are a kind of radiation that harms you, especially children.
▶ THE FACTS ◀

» Wi-Fi is radio, and radio is gentle
Wi-Fi uses radio waves -- the same family of waves that has carried radio and television for a hundred years. They are 'non-ionising', which means each little packet of energy is far too weak to damage the atoms in your body or harm your DNA. Only much stronger rays -- ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays -- can do that.

» The power is tiny
The only thing radio waves can do is warm things a little, and that depends on power. A Wi-Fi router gives out a small fraction of a single watt -- less than a night-light. You are warmed far more by sunshine, by a radiator, or by simply sitting next to another person.

» The scientists have looked, carefully
Health agencies around the world, including the World Health Organization and the UK Health Security Agency, have reviewed the evidence many times over. At the levels found in homes and schools there is no good evidence that Wi-Fi harms anyone, child or adult.

★ TRY IT YOURSELF ★
Your own body glows -- in infra-red 'heat' light -- far more brightly than a Wi-Fi router shines in radio. A night-vision camera would show you as the brightest thing in the room.

PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF SCIENCE UNIT (PUSU) · Schools & Media-Literacy Programme
DRAFT for distribution to schools · staged copy only.
Every statement in this sheet is scientifically accurate and may be relied upon.
Not to be attributed to the Partner. © Crown Copyright 2013.