Do WiFi adapters emit radiation?

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14 Feb 2014, 10:51 am

I did a Google search and did not find much.

I am not asking about routers. I am asking about the adapter on a computer that accepts the signal.

zer0netgain
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14 Feb 2014, 11:28 am

Yes.

Anything that transmits a signal emits EM radiation.

If you want to know what type of radiation and how much "exposure" you are getting, that's a different question.

eric76
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14 Feb 2014, 12:43 pm

I hope you aren't confusing that with nuclear radiation.

drh1138
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14 Feb 2014, 2:49 pm

A desk lamp emits radiation. In fact, if you're reading this, your eyeballs are being bombarded with it.

zer0netgain
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14 Feb 2014, 3:20 pm

eric76 wrote:

I hope you aren't confusing that with nuclear radiation.

EM radiation can be just as dangerous, but over a long term of exposure...especially in higher concentrations.

I'd not advocate having your WiFi router next to your bed when you sleep at night, but it's not going to give you tumors because it's in your home.

Woodpecker
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14 Feb 2014, 3:34 pm

zer0netgain wrote:

eric76 wrote:

I hope you aren't confusing that with nuclear radiation.

I would like to ask you why you think that radiowaves are as dangerous as alpha, beta or gamma rays. I strongly hold the view that microwaves and radiowaves are close to harmless. The ionizing radiations are able to convert water into reactive things like solvated electrons, hydroxyl radicals and hydrogen atoms these can then attack biomolecules which include your DNA. On the other hand the radio frequency fields can just warn up water.

If you are so sure that microwaves and radiowaves are so dangerous then please share with us the details of the mechanism by which they can harm the body as a result of prolonged exposure.

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Fnord
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14 Feb 2014, 3:49 pm

Woodpecker wrote:

zer0netgain wrote:

eric76 wrote:

I hope you aren't confusing that with nuclear radiation.

EM radiation can be just as dangerous, but over a long term of exposure...especially in higher concentrations. I'd not advocate having your WiFi router next to your bed when you sleep at night, but it's not going to give you tumors because it's in your home.

I would like to ask you why you think that radiowaves are as dangerous as alpha, beta or gamma rays. I strongly hold the view that microwaves and radiowaves are close to harmless. The ionizing radiations are able to convert water into reactive things like solvated electrons, hydroxyl radicals and hydrogen atoms these can then attack biomolecules which include your DNA. On the other hand the radio frequency fields can just warn up water. If you are so sure that microwaves and radiowaves are so dangerous then please share with us the details of the mechanism by which they can harm the body as a result of prolonged exposure.

Well now, I expect to see some hysterical rantings regarding this issue, so I'll drop in an excerpt form an article I once contributed to:

Quote:

For the last thirty years, since the publication in the late 1970s of a series of articles by investigative journalist Paul Brodeur, microwaves have been considered a cancer risk by a great many members of the public. Widespread fear of the admittedly rather loaded word "radiation" has led to considerable panic over such things, starting with microwave ovens and radar installations, proceeding to worries over power lines (the radio emissions from which are actually in the super low frequency band at 50 or 60 Hz), CRTs, mobile phones, and even electronic "smog" from WiFi transmitters. Cancer fears have led to reduced property values near power lines, protests of radar installations, and even attempts to banish wireless networking from schools.

Epidemiological studies have not borne out the feared risks, however; in fact, it's generally thought that the fear springs from a lack of knowledge about the difference between ionizing and non-ionizing radiation. While microwaves can have chemical effects on the human body, they're the sort of effects indirectly caused by heating, such as protein denaturation, burns from heated water in tissues, and electric arcing from metal objects in the microwave field. These risks are not negligible with industrial microwave ovens. Ionizing radiation on the other hand, which begins around violet in the visible light portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, is where the cancer risk lies -- the radiation in question is energetic enough to directly break molecular bonds. Microwaves do not have that level of energy; needless to say, the far lower frequencies of power lines do not either.

(Source: "Microwave - RationalWiki".)

Some ignorant people have heard the word "radiation" and let their superstitious fear take over -- the truth is too difficult for them to understand, so they accept the lies that make sense to them, and become fearful.

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14 Feb 2014, 4:23 pm

Electromagnetic radiation is our way of getting up close and personal with the world.

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drh1138
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14 Feb 2014, 5:15 pm

Fnord wrote:

starting with microwave ovens and radar installations, proceeding to worries over power lines (the radio emissions from which are actually in the super low frequency band at 50 or 60 Hz), CRTs, mobile phones, and even electronic "smog" from WiFi transmitters.

Out of those, the only one I dread being around are CRT televisions, and that's only because I can hear that dreadful high-pitched whine they give off.

ruveyn
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14 Feb 2014, 7:41 pm

drh1138 wrote:

Fnord wrote:

Out of those, the only one I dread being around are CRT televisions, and that's only because I can hear that dreadful high-pitched whine they give off.

Does your t.v. still use a crt tube. LED screens do not give off that whine.

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14 Feb 2014, 11:47 pm

"Radiation" just means radiated energy, or energy that moves away from its source. I.e. sound and the heat from a stove are forms of radiation. So, there are many forms and the better question is what kind of radiation is dangerous? Being showered with raindrops is OK, but being showered with hailstones is not. Normal, Earth levels of visible light are OK, but UV isn't, and high levels of X- or gamma- rays aren't, even though they're all forms of electromagnetic radiation.

Most WiFi equipment emits 2.4 GHz EM radiation which is in the microwave part of the spectrum. I'm not read up on all possible issues, but that frequency basically just imparts a rotational force on water molecules that ends up manifesting as heat. It is interesting that magnetic fields mess with atoms' energy levels but I guess it's insignificant compared to the energy involved in chemical bonds since MRI machines don't turn people into puddles of goo.

drh1138
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15 Feb 2014, 1:28 am

ruveyn wrote:

drh1138 wrote:

Fnord wrote:

Out of those, the only one I dread being around are CRT televisions, and that's only because I can hear that dreadful high-pitched whine they give off.

Does your t.v. still use a crt tube. LED screens do not give off that whine.

ruveyn

Were I in any position to buy one, I'd have an LED. However I live with my dad, who still uses CRT TV's. It isn't noticeable all the time; when the sound drowns it out or I'm upstairs.

sliqua-jcooter
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15 Feb 2014, 3:38 am

Most RF devices have near 0 effect on organic tissue at normal power levels and/or distance.

I was in the transmitter building of a 10,000 watt AM radio station once, and that was most-likely not good for me, but that would be the exception.

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ruveyn
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15 Feb 2014, 12:35 pm

Any process that jiggles electrons produces electromagnetic radiation of some frequency or another. Just wave a metal fork back and forth and you have transmitted electromagnetic radiation.

ruveyn

Rakshasa72
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16 Feb 2014, 6:28 pm

drh1138 wrote:

ruveyn wrote:

drh1138 wrote:

Fnord wrote:

Out of those, the only one I dread being around are CRT televisions, and that's only because I can hear that dreadful high-pitched whine they give off.

Does your t.v. still use a crt tube. LED screens do not give off that whine.

ruveyn

Were I in any position to buy one, I'd have an LED. However I live with my dad, who still uses CRT TV's. It isn't noticeable all the time; when the sound drowns it out or I'm upstairs.

I grew up with CRT televisions and, I always thought I was weird because I could hear the whine and no one else could. I'm glad that they are mostly gone now.

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