Health Risks due to infrared

Imagine for a moment going about your daily routine without electricity. You probably awoke to an electric clock radio/alarm, showered under warm water supplied via an electric hot water heater, drank a couple of cups of coffee from your automatic electric coffee maker, listened to the weather on the electric powered TV or radio - and the list goes on and on. We live in an electrical environment!

Electricity is all around you and while you cannot see electricity, you can certainly appreciate the results. However, any time electric current travels through a wire, the air, or runs an appliance, it produces an electromagnetic field. It is important to remember that electromagnetic fields are found everywhere that electricity is in use. While researchers have not established an ironclad link between the exposure to electromagnetic fields and ailments such as leukemia, the circumstantial evidence concerns many people.

The evidence also suggests that we need to use some common sense when dealing with electricity. In scientific terms, your body can act as an antenna, as it has a higher conductivity for electricity than does air. Therefore, when conditions are right you may have experienced a small "tingle" of electric current from a poorly grounded electric appliance. As long as these currents are very small there isn't much danger from electric fields, except for potential shocks. Your body, however, also has a permeability almost equal to air, thus allowing a magnetic field to easily enter the body. Unfortunately your body cannot detect the presence of a strong magnetic field, which could potentially do much more harm.

In terms of wireless technology, there are no confirmed health risks or scientific dangers from infrared or radio frequency, with two known exceptions:

1. point-to-point lasers which can cause burns or blindness
2. prolonged microwave exposure which has been linked to cancer and leukemia

Therefore, most health concerns related to electromagnetic fields are due to electricity in our day-to-day use, such as computer monitors and TVs. These dangers, if any, are already in the home and work place, and the addition of wireless technology should not be seen as an exceptional risk. We might be rightfully worried or concerned about the electric power grid two blocks from our home or school, but at the same time, we sleep each night with our head only a few feet from an AC powered clock radio, which may be far worse due simply to proximity. We might be also be worried about the magnetic radiation or magnetically induced electrical fields which surround us from the fluorescent light fixtures and high voltage, high frequency lighting we sit under at work and at home. The real danger, however, is that we normally position ourselves too close to the electromagnetic field source (computer monitor, TV, etc.). Remember that the strength of the electromagnetic field (EMF) decreases as the square of the distance from the field source. Therefore, if we are 2 meters away from the source, the EMF strength is reduced to 1/4, but if we move 8 meters away from the source, the EMF strength is reduced to 1/64 of its original strength.

Safety

There are a few things you can do to make your home and work environment a safer "electronic" place. The first thing to consider when possible is to buy Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Class B rated equipment. The FCC classifies computer equipment for its potential to generate radio frequency pollution. Class B emits less radio frequency pollution than Class A, and is more suitable for the residential environment. Unfortunately, while Class B emits less radio frequency pollution, there is nothing in the FCC classes regarding magnitude or level of the pollution.

Other potential risks exist in high voltage (e.g. power) components such as display monitors, computer power supplies, etc. If possible select low power units, shielded units, etc. and operate them at lower resolutions. For example, VGA resolution has a lower refresh scan rate than SVGA, and thus lower magnetic field pollution. If you are adding internal cards to your computers, don't tamper with the computer by removing any internal shielding, covers, etc. Any metal shielding inside your computer was probably put there for a purpose, although to you it may look like a harmless spacer!

If you are really concerned, you can purchase formal safety testing tools or hire a consultant to do formal testing for EMF. There are also cheap tools you can utilize to test for the presence of strong radio or magnetic fields. For example, the presence of a strong magnetic field will deflect a compass needle from pointing north, or the presence of a strong radio frequency field will distort an AM radio's ability to clearly tune in a station. Simple tools like these can be used to screen for strong EMF.

Security

Electromagnetic frequencies currently have little legal status for protection and as such, can be freely intercepted by motivated individuals. This doesn't mean wireless transmission is easily breached, as security varies by the type of wireless transmission method. As presented earlier in the advantages and disadvantages of infrared versus radio frequency transmission, what might be considered an advantage to one method for transmission could turn out to be a disadvantage for security. For example, because infrared is line-of-sight it has less transmission range but is also more difficult to intercept when compared to radio frequency. Radio frequency can penetrate walls, making it much easier to transmit a message, but also more susceptible to tapping.

A possible solution to security issues will likely be some form of data encryption. Data encryption standards (DES) are also being quickly developed for the exchange of information over the Internet, and many of these same DES will be applied to wireless technology.