This blog article was written as a one page handout for parents attending the documentary Screenagers in Palo Alto, California.

There is growing awareness of screen addiction, but most people are still in the dark about an issue that goes hand in hand with screen time: the health effects of wireless radiation exposure. There is a growing body of published research on this. Below is a small selection of studies, articles and as well as a video from a public health event on the topic.

Wireless Technology & Public Health Forum: Health and Environmental Hazards in a Wireless World

Even if you limit your children’s screen time, they can still be exposed to excessive levels from baby monitors, Wi-Fi, cordless phone base stations, and cell towers. Palo Alto has higher power cell towers, and places them closer to residential areas and schools than surrounding communities allow.

Palo Alto: Cell Tower Can Go Up at Little League Field, Judge Says

The same physiological processes that are targeted by psychiatric drugs are also impacted by wireless radiation.

Pall, Martin L. “Electromagnetic fields act via activation of voltage‐gated calcium channels to produce beneficial or adverse effects.” Journal of cellular and molecular medicine 17.8 (2013): 958-965:

The most commonly reported symptoms of wireless exposure are sleep disturbance, headache, fatigue, and depression.

Pall, Martin L. “Microwave frequency electromagnetic fields (EMFs) produce widespread neuropsychiatric effects including depression.” Journal of chemical neuroanatomy (2015).

For more information see: Understanding EMF and Wireless Safety