Student Science Experiment: Plants Won’t Grow near Wi-Fi

Over 60 percent of US households have WiFi, with little thought being given to the effects of the radiation it produces. Most of us never shut off our wireless routers, letting them run 24 hours a day so we can conveniently connect whenever the need arises. But there is some interesting evidence that all this radiation is harming us.

Some 34 studies have linked WiFi exposure to things like abnormal heart rates, headaches, infertility, oxidative stress, and even increased cancer risk. Recently, a group of students in Denmark set out to determine just how WiFi would affect life in general, by attempting to grow seedlings near such common radiation.

The students initially wanted to test cellphone radiation effects on humans since they had noticed they lacked focus on days after sleeping near their cellphones. But their school, Hjallerup School, didn’t have the resources for such an experiment. Instead, they opted to test the growth of plants when near Wifi.

Six trays filled with Lepidium sativum (a garden cress) were placed in a room with two routers. Another six trays were placed in a room where there was no cellular radiation. Even before their 12-day study period was over, the results were astounding. The radiation produced by two routers is similar to that produced by ordinary cell phones, according to the girls’ calculations.

Read: Laptop Wifi Found to Damage Infertility

The seedlings in the radiation room had either not grown or were completely dead. Those in the non-radiation room were thriving.

Not only did the students win top honors in a science competition, they earned the interest of scientists around the world. Their teacher reports a professor of neuroscience from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden is working to recreate their experience in a controlled scientific setting.

More than likely, your Wifi is having some effects on your health and wellbeing, whether you recognize it or not. You can limit your exposure by shutting off the router when it’s not in use. One of the simplest ways of doing this is putting the device on a timer, so it shuts down in the evening hours. These timers are available at most home improvement stores for less than $20.