Scary Cell Phones and Wi-Fi Chase Humans to West Virginia

When terrified, people will go anywhere and do anything.

According to the BBC (via Popular Science), dozens of Americans have “flocked” to the town of Green Bank, West Virginia.

To put this story into perspective, let's take a look at the specifics of what BBC had to say:

Diane Schou is unable to hold back the tears as she describes how she once lived in a shielded cage to protect her from the electromagnetic radiation caused by waves from wireless communication.

"It's a horrible thing to have to be a prisoner," she says. "You become a technological leper because you can't be around people.

"It's not that you would be contagious to them - it's what they're carrying that is harmful to you."

Ms. Schou is one of an estimated 5% of Americans who believe they suffer from Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS), which they say is caused by exposure to electromagnetic fields typically created by mobile phones, wi-fi and other electronic equipment.

As someone who is extremely concerned by the mounting evidence that airport scanners – another growing, radiation-heavy technology – could do more harm than good, I am not about to make fun of Ms. Schou. She may not have many (or any) scientific studies to show that Wi-Fi or cell phones pose a serious health risk (the same cannot be said for airport scanners), but if she is personally convinced that they are the source of her suffering, I can only sympathize with her and wish her the best.

To solve her problems, Ms. Schou and others like her moved to Green Bank in order to take advantage of what is described as a “Radio Quiet Zone,” an area where wireless technology is banned across 13,000 square miles. The quiet zone was implemented to prevent transmissions from interfering with the various radio telescopes in the area, among other things. By moving there, humans can fully escape the dangers that Wi-Fi and cell phones may or may not present.

Okay, fine – end of story. But before I go, I must give a little commentary and ask: where the heck were these people when secondhand smoke proved to be a deadly carcinogen? It's not enough to simply avoid bars; for many years, Americans had to endure secondhand smoke in the workplace. Did these people pack up and leave to avoid something that was all but guaranteed to harm them?

What about crime? Did these Wi-Fi worriers find a safe haven when murderers, serial killers and child abductors were on the rise? M. Night Shyamalan wrote, produced and directed an entire movie about a community of people who did just that. Something tells me the ending wouldn't have been as compelling if it had turned out that the villagers were running from wireless communications.

Even the dangers of automobiles (drunk or careless drivers, unforeseen road hazards, etc.) present a compelling case to run away. But Wi-Fi? Really!? Wi-Fi emits a very small amount of radiation – far less than most electronics.

I'll admit that I was concerned by cell phones and still wonder why repeated studies show that they can lower a man's sperm count. That's very troubling. But the reality is that, unlike secondhand smoke, there is no evidence to suggest that being near a cell phone is as dangerous as using one.

And we don't even know if using a cell phone is dangerous.

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