By Richard Thurston, ZDNet (UK)
Published on ZDNet News: November 29, 2006, 8:11 AM PT

The U.K. Department of Health appears to have been wrong-footed by a member of parliament who called for an investigation into whether Wi-Fi networks pose a danger to health.

Ian Gibson, former chairman of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, last week called for the Health Department to set up an inquiry into the potential dangers of Wi-Fi communications. He said the threat should be seriously examined and that another inquiry should be carried out like the Stewart report into mobile-phone radiation.

The government agency has been unable to confirm whether it is taking Gibson's claims seriously or whether it will launch an inquiry. Calls to the Health Department from ZDNet UK have been met with no clear response.

Gibson spoke out after two schools banned wireless networks from their premises over health fears. Of the two schools, the most notable case was a classics teacher at the prestigious Stowe School in Buckinghamshire who said he had suffered "sudden flushes, pressure behind the eyes and burning sensations," from his school's Wi-Fi network.

These reports sparked a stream of comments on ZDNet UK's news blog. Most comments on the blog dismissed the concerns as overly dramatic, though one reader claimed that lab tests had found that Wi-Fi radiation affects animals.

The Stewart Report of 2000 found no evidence that mobile-phone use caused damage to health, but it recommended a precautionary approach. Compared to mobile-phone networks, Wi-Fi networks use much less power and operate at frequencies less able to penetrate the human body, two factors that reduce the likelihood of health effects on current evidence.

"Any new technology will always be subjected to criticism as being dangerous initially. There is currently no conclusive evidence that Wi-Fi is a cause for health concerns. It seems to me quite dramatic to suddenly ban Wi-Fi," commented Carsten Sorensen, senior lecturer in information systems at the London School of Economics.

One Wi-Fi operator, The Cloud, was immediately skeptical and laughed off Gibson's concerns.

Gibson is a former dean in biological sciences at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, and he is now one of the city's two parliament members. Norwich has become the first city in the country to deploy a free public Wi-Fi network.

Richard Thurston of ZDNet UK reported from London.