Boeing Tests In-Flight Wireless on Potatoes, Not People

PRLog (Press Release) - Dec. 19, 2012 - A CNN headline today reads, "Boeing uses potatoes for in-flight wireless test" (Aaron Cooper, CNN, December 19, 2012:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/19/travel/potatoes-wireless/ .

Perhaps wi-fi radiation does not affect potatoes, but what about human health effects?  

Given the latest research on secondhand exposure to microwave radiation, how confident can a bunch of engineers be that there are no health effects, especially for pregnant women and children, due to exposure to wi-fi in an airplane cabin that functions like a Faraday cage (1)?

Just because wi-fi on planes may comply with outmoded FCC standards does not make it safe for humans (2).

What about the growing number of people who suffer from electromagnetic hypersensitivity -- are they supposed to stop flying?

With a few exceptions, policy makers in the U.S. have largely ignored warnings from American health scientists like Devra Davis, David Carpenter, Hugh Taylor, Jonathan Samet, and myself about the long-term health effects associated with exposure to wireless microwave radiation.  Meanwhile a dozen other nations have issued precautionary health warnings, and some have increased restrictions on use of wi-fi and cell phones especially among children.

(1) Secondhand Exposure to Cell Phone Radiation: An Emerging Public Health Problem?  http://www.prlog.org/12010018

(2) Does The FCC Plan To Rubber Stamp Outdated Cell Phone Radiation Standards? http://www.prlog.org/11901340

For more information about the health effects associated with exposure to electromagnetic radiation, see ...

http://ehtrust.org/
http://electromagnetichealth.org/
http://www.ewg.org/cellphone-radiation
http://www.microwavenews.com/ (http://www.microwavenews.com/)

Cell Phones: Assessing and Preventing Risks, a Q&A I did with Dr. David Katz
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-katz-md/cell-phone-health-risks_b_869241.html

Some recent news releases I've prepared ...

Cell Phone Radiation, Pregnancy, and Sperm
http://www.prlog.org/12026867

Cell Phone Radiation Damages Sperm
http://www.prlog.org/11911996

Magnetic Field Exposure Before Birth May Contribute to Childhood Obesity
http://www.prlog.org/11936095

Health Experts Caution About Smart Meters
http://www.prlog.org/11978228

San Francisco's Cell Phone Fact Sheet is Factual
http://www.prlog.org/11973342

Cell Phone Radiation Warning on San Francisco Government Web Site
http://www.prlog.org/11879000

Florida City Adopts Cell Phone Precautionary Health Warnings
http://www.prlog.org/12031899

Big Week for Cell Phone Radiation Legislation
http://www.prlog.org/11943091

Italian Supreme Court Rules Cell Phones Can Cause Cancer
http://www.prlog.org/12004383

India Adopts Health Warnings & U.S. Mobile Phone Standards
http://www.prlog.org/11966704

Russian Cell Phone Standards Offer Better Protection than American Standards
http://www.prlog.org/11916029


Joel M. Moskowitz, Ph.D.
Director, Center for Family and Community Health
School of Public Health
University of California, Berkeley