Wi-Fi Killing Trees? Not So Fast

Dutch government agency says 'hold your horses'
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 23, 2010 3:31 PM CST
Wi-Fi Killing Trees? Not So Fast
Are these trees in danger?   (Shutterstock)

Is your Wi-Fi router a menace to local plant life? Dutch scientists say quite possibly—but the Dutch government says quite possibly not. In response to the findings of the study commissioned by the Dutch city of Alphen aan den Rijn, the government's Antenna Agency issued a statement urging caution. CBS News, with the trusty help of Google Translate, reports that the agency writes, "The researcher ... indicates that these are initial results and that has not been confirmed in a repeat survey. He warns strongly that there are no far-reaching conclusions from its results."

CBS also talked to a professor of radiology, who notes that Wi-Fi's radio signals are similar to those used by televisions and cell phones. "Stuff like this has been around a long time ... there's nothing new about Wi-Fi emissions," he says. "Scientifically there's no evidence to support that these signals are a cause for concern." (More WiFi stories.)

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