U. office removes statement about safety of Wi-Fi radiation following activist pressure
Catherine OffordThe Office of Environmental Health and Safety removed a statement from its websiteabout the safety of radiation from Wi-Fi in June 2014 in response to activist pressure. The statement, which reflected the University’s position on the hazards of exposure to wireless radiation and authored in 2007, disappeared from the website after the University deemed it to be out of date. The move took place against a backdrop of activist concern about Wi-Fi safety in schools across the country and in Europe and was triggered by a series of emails from individuals outside the University who had viewed the University's statement on radiation safety. The process began with an email in February 2014 from a womanconcerned about Wi-Fi safety who had two young children, Sue Dupre, the University's Assistant Director of Environmental Health and Safety, said.The woman was not affiliated with the University. “She contacted us and everybody in our office, including more senior people in University management, expressing concern about our position statement and saying that there were other important, recent studies we needed to look at,” Dupre said.
