Study links WiFi with childhood autism
By Donald Melanson 
posted Nov 21st 2007 6:38PM
posted Nov 21st 2007 6:38PM
While there seems to be relatively few things that WiFi hasn't been linked to, it seems that a new study has managed to turn up yet another potential peril, in this case a link to childhood autism. According to the study published in the Australasian Journal of Clinical Environmental Medicine, the electromagnetic radiation from WiFi devices supposedly causes metals to be trapped in individuals' brain cells, which the researchers say slows clearance and accelerates the onset of autism symptoms. As Computer Weekly points out, however, a number of health agencies, including the World Health Organization, have repeatedly examined the issue and found no danger from WiFi devices (or cellphones, for that matter) operating at levels below international guidelines. Still, we have a sneaking suspicion that this is far from the last study of this sort we'll see, at least until each WiFi router shipped comes bundled with a tinfoil bodysuit.[Via Switched]
Autism is pervasive and cannot be linked to any one cause.
There are cases of Autism leading to austitic savantism due to CAR CRASHES and brain injuries (specifically, brain injuries to certain parts of the brain).
Activists tried to link Autism to mercury poisoning in immunizations and the conclusion claimed there was no true link there.
It does seem logical that wifi (radio wave radiation ) could possibly lead to damage n human development. One of my Physics professors suggested constant bombardment by certain frequencies of radiation could possibly ACCELERATE particles and molecules in the human body.
what a bunch of BS.
here's one:
STUDY: anything wireless gives you cancer. dumbasses.
/end sarcasm
Well according to every report everything is linked to cancer. Soon enough we will be hearing that water is the true link to cancer and that if you ever used a keyboard you are 75% more likely to have cancer.
This just in:
Study links wifi to enabling people to get online without wires!!!
This just in: Without doing any research my study is more valid than all the other "wifi inked to" studies.
Can i have a Nobel prize or something?
Wait a minute....
Wasn't autism around long before Wifi? Am I missing something here?
...word!...
Metals... creeping...int o ..b.b.brain...cells..can't type...ooo steel in my pons.... ooh.. mercury in my cere..b.b.bell.ll....
the world health organization helped create and spread AIDS. I think that I'll take what they say with a grain of salt and a diseased needle.
The WHO created and spread AIDS? I've heard some pretty good conspiracy theories in my day, but I think this one takes the cake. I'm no fan of the WHO either, but get real, buddy.
Wow... finally someone more paranoid and crazy than myself!
Wow.
STOP BREATHING NOW: BREATHING CAUSES CANCER.
In facts breathing cause oxidation, and oxidation can cause not only cancer but aging and death. So, the only way to living eternally is to stop breathing ->
This is very good, and i think all the people of the wordl!!!!
Mac's cause cancer
How to stop the disease?
Stop conforming to the popular pos
o my lord. you are a flaming pile of poo, and you and your dumb ass can go away because you cause me cancer and if i see another person cry and complain about a mac ad ill fucking flip. if you dont like them get the fuck out. if u dont like them but dont want to leave then get a adblocker like everyone keeps saying. so shut up we know you dont like the ads, but guess what the writers here have NOTHING TO DO WITH THE AD'S so fuck off you flaming pile of poo.
anyways did you know asphalt gives you cancer too, it just takes over 100 years for it to do it. so basically everything gives you cancer we know we dont care.
nop! mac does not cause cancer... it just make your ego bigger/wallet lighter.
Anyone google that journal? It doesn't appear to be a valid scientific journal.
Indeed... closest I could find to an official release :
http://tinyurl.com/22t7wt
Peer-reviewed... Unfortunately peers can be idiots too.
The wonderful smell of BS.
If there was enough force in WiFi signals to attract metal into the brain, a megawatt radio station would be a danger to planes at 10k feet.
MAkes me wonder if anyone's ever done a study on long-term exposure to radio waves and cancer... As far as I know, cancer has been a mostly recent phenomenon (I could be wrong about this) because I rarely here about it coming u pin historic accounts. Now that we've had people exposed to radio waves constantly over an 80 year period, one has to wonder... likewise wifi signals, satellite TV, cellular phone signals. It's enough to make you wonder if these things affect developing fetuses. Think about it-- a pregnant woman who walks down a typical city street is bombarded with electromagnetic waves of varying frquency and wavelength. I can't say for sure there's a correlation, but it makes you wonder...
well 1 reason (im just kinda guessing on this one) that historical evidence against cancer doesnt come up is because people didnt know about it. they didnt understand the difference between cancer cells and regular ones. that might be a reason
There also weren't many reported cases of Streptococcus pneumoniae 500 years ago, either. That doesn't mean it didn't exist.
Cancer didn't exist then because they just thought it was an evil troll that lived in your stomach. Then, when they used a rusty knife to cut you so they could remove 5-6 pints of "bad blood" and you died anyways, they concluded it must've been because you missed confession the previous week.
If wifi cause autisim then send you f***ing kids outside to play instead of in front of the computer and videogames. even if it doesn't send them outside to play anyway.
Because it's impossible for them to be hit by radio waves outside 8-).
Hmm... Guess its time to bust out my 100 meter ethernet cable again...
Just for you kids playing at home...,
Austism Spectrum Disorder is a mental disability, most kids a born with it and specilists are able to diagnose it from an early age (~2yo). Nearly everything has been blamed for causing this mental disability, and we still don't know what causes it, (one of the great mysteries of medicine), and hence there is no 'cure', however it is most likely genetic.
Take this article with a truckload of salt.
It appears like many of your brains have already been affected. AIDS WAS a biological weapon AND WAS spread intentionally....cancer is epidemic right now...how can so many people be soooooo clueless?
wait, your saying AIDS is a weapon? what the hell? why would you even come to that conclusion? i dont even know what to say about that. its such a crazy idea that i think your a bonafide idiot.
along with 1/4 of the nation (guess what thats from and ill give u a cookie)
Some weapon...
"Sir, we've developed a biological that takes 6 months to show up and 20 years to kill anyone infected with it."
"Sounds great! Roll it out!"
Southpark. *holds out hand*
"apparently causes the metals to be trapped in cells"... wow, that's not too far off from "and then a miracle occurs and metals are trapped in cells"
And how come that journal can't be googled? And I'm talking about the top 200 results here... if it's so important, there should've been a downloadable version or something.
Anyone think these people just can't accept that they passed some crappy DNA to their kids and are just out for someone to blame?
The MMR vaccine never did me any harm, but one crackpot doctor and some parents stupid enough to believe him and the inoculation rate plummets putting kids at risk of viruses we practically eradicated 50 years ago. Instead of your child 'potentially' getting autism, your and other little darlings are in hospital with serious illnesses.
Do you think there ought to be a minimum IQ level for people to have kids?
Man this is such a blow off. lol
I have Asperger's Syndrome (a variant of autism). I am 16 years old, and I honestly don't see how WiFi could have a link, especially since WiFi wasn't really around when I was born. This study, in my opinion, is bogus. Especially since my grandmother and cousin (most likely) have it as well, which points toward heredity. I don't believe this study one bit (this coming from an autistic person).
@MastrCake: I think they're trying to say that more people have it now that wifi is so common. I disagree with that, but I think that's what they're saying.
Cancer has been around for quite sometime. Historically, it is mentioned as far back as texts attributed to Hippocrates.
One of the reasons that we are seeing more cancer in the last 80 years is due to the almost doubling of lifespans during that time frame. Most cancers have been linked with heredity and/or environmental exposures. Nothing you can do about your heredity. Environmental exposures are typically cumulative. Give someone more of a cancer causing substance, and you expect to see the cancer rate go up.
Some of these environmental causes have also been shown to be more likely to express as you live longer. This stands to reason. If you die of a staph infection at the age of forty, then the cancer that you're predisposed to doesn't have enough time to manifest itself.
End results: Cancer rates have gone up, both in total numbers, and per population count. So has the number of airplanes, cars, and exotic pets.
http://www.acnem.org/
There was a time when x-rays were used in shoe stores.
For what, may I ask?
To measure your foot.
http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/shoefittingfluor/shoe.htm
I'm not saying WiFi is harmful, but I find it funny that everyone reacts so definitely that it is safe, when we continually develop technologies, embrace them and then later shun them as damaging or undesirable for some reason or another.
WOW!!
Who knew that Treo's only reason for not having WIFI was to save our lives! Thanks Palm, and I think we all owe you a huge appology for calling you out of date for lacking this deadly feature.
Sadly I have an HTC Tytn that has Wifi, so I best go sniff Cocaine and screw hookers while I still have a few days of life left in me...
In other news:
Glasses linked to bad eyesight
what a load of bs
Actually... Glasses "correct" poor vision, not "fix" it.
Glasses *DO* cause your vision to get worse (hence having to go get a new set of lenses made every couple of years). Your eyes get "lazier" because the lenses are doing all of the focusing for them. The only way to "fix" your vision is to get corrective surgery.
Sheesh. Way to *NOT* notice sarcasm.
The point is, they don't CAUSE bad eyesight in the FIRST PLACE.
I guess I'm the only one who thinks this is possible. Look at it this way. A few years ago, who even heard of the word autism. And Wi-fi hasn't been around for too long. I'm worried that some technology, even though I love it, maybe somehow linked. I wonder if we all just don't want to hear it. I know I don't.
Ever heard of a microwave? How about a oordless phone? Now tell me again how WiFi is being correlated with autsm.
Granted phnes haven't always been 2.4 GHz, but that band was in use well before WiFi came along.
you do reaize there are different metals in your body all the time right? they dont mean a big chunk of steel will come flying through your skull. what they are saying is that it will make them accumulate in your brain. i'm not saying i believe wifi is making this happen, only that there are metals in the blood around your brain right now, you make it sound like it is impossible for it to stay there.
This has to be total bs.
has there been an increase in autism since the advent of Wifi.
If so, can it be directly tied to Wifi.
Too many variables here for me and as someone with HFA, I'm not quite sure how to go about doing this.
There is a higher incidence of autism in places like Silicon Valley where there is a high population of computer programmers and such. Some theorize that same genes that draw people to sitting in front of a computer doing the same thing for hours on end also leads to autism in their children.
Maybe its just that the parents of autistic kids are more likely to have Wifi because they're highly computer literate, instead of the Wifi being the direct causative agent...
Or maybe I'm just reaching...
Why do you even bother write this crap? This is not "the Onion", this is Engadget, a tech blog about real things, not made up science. I am about tired of conspiracy, commie, crybaby, pseudo-science from some of the articles on engadget and especially digg. It is truly sickening how something so cool as engadget can be dumbed down so easily by a few articles here and there that are just ludicrous. Ban these bloggers, have them go write MST3K episodes or something, being as they are so very clever.
Alright everyone stop speculating. The real paper can be found here :
http://www.internalbalance.com/emr-autism-acnem.pdf
It is a perfect example of bad science: The research included meridian pressure points, detoxification, energy profiling and all kinds of quackery.
The publication is not in the PubMed National Library
of Medicine collection. It includes journals from all over the world.
Until this article is found... this must not be regarded as valid.
However, Dr George Carlo is real. He is very controversial and seems
to believe in a theory, electrosensitivity that has something to do
with symptoms and electromagnetic signals. It is controversial and
not yet proven. Dr Carlo is also leading a lobby group and the Wifi
scares have no good science behind it so far.
I am not dismissing the issue, there has to be good science work to
be done but this is not it.
The ugly on Dr Carlo:
http://www.badscience.net/2007/06/dr-george-carlo-responds-to-andrew-goldacre/
The study was published in http://www.acnem.org/ , which is becoming known as a "crackpot journal". It was more entertaining before, when they had their index of articles available on the web: they covered the whole gamut, from acupreassure to that the human nervous system really consist of optical fibers, and not of electrical conducting nerves. I think (hope...) that it will be a while before it is indexed in Medline.
Fuck.
That.
Shit.
There is absolutely NO LINK between heavy metals and autism. Autistic people have died because they've been treated for heavy metal poisoning that doesn't exist!
Ian...ignorant fools like yourself who know nothing, yet still insisit on shooting off their mouth make me sick. Here is just one of many M.D.s and others in positions where they would know who have brought forth the real origins of AIDs.
http://heyokamagazine.com/HEYOKA.7.HEALTH.AlanCantwell.MD.htm
Engadget, why can't we reply directly to those that reply to us?
just because i didnt know something doesnt make me an ignorant fool, i had no reason to believe that AIDS was a weapon of any kind and to hear it seemed like an absolute joke. so you know what im probably going to be the first one to do this, but i apologize about the whole thing.
that makes me sick that people have the balls to do shit like that, i dont understand it. im speechless. i wish someone with a heart was in the government
http://usinfo.state.gov/media/Archive/2005/Jan/14-777030.html
i'm not saying this to dispute you but one of the two has to be right... i just hope to god for some reason yours is wrong. but i have a feeling that man is fucked up enough to do something like this.
Ian,
We all know the government never lies...go to google video and search End Game by Alex Jones and learn about the history of Eugenics (The last part of the film).... it's also embedded on the video page of my site..... zude.com/caldude
I'm humbled by your apology.
Ian. You ARE an ignorant fool, for believing in what Hanna's saying.
I hear having 2 parents who work for microsoft causes autism.
thats not a bash at microsoft, but I really heard of a link between the children of computer programmers and autism. probably something to do with the coding genes
People should do some reading, there isn't really a rise in autism, we've just become better at discovering it.
Or just like Ken Robinson said in his TED talk about a different condition; "Maybe nowadays people would say she had ADHD, but in the thirties people were not aware they could have that."
=====================
Purpose of Study: Hysteria
Result of Study: Funding
======================
BREAKING NEWS: BIRTH LINKED WITH CHILDHOOD AUTISM!
Such crap - no one knows how Autism forms, so when the study says "more of X causes Y", then what we have is a cause-and-effect relationship, which is crap.
We should pull the 'scientist' into the school yard, stand around him, point and yell "crappy crappy crap crap" over and over again :)
this ties in wonderfully with all the heavy metal spraying that has been conducted worldwide for the past 7 years :)
http://www.ksla.com/Global/story.asp?s=7339345
It might, if heavy metal hadn't been ruled out as a cause.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVZAChMUa0Y :)
When I read the title of the feed I Though it was going to be something about closing themselves in their rooms and not in open areas to socialize or anything like it, but this is just ridiculous.
That's the dumbest bull I've heard in a long time. How long has Wifi been popular? Since maybe 2002-2003? Yeah, that's plenty of data. Considering that it makes zero sense on so many levels and that wifi uses microwave frequencies which are similar to those of existing phones and other devices which have already had such idiotic claims debunked to death.
Sloppy reporting guys. If you'd done any of the checking that Ars Technica did you would have discovered that this study is absolute that doesn't deserve to be reported upon.