WiFi transmissions raise concerns

ALPHEN AAN DEN RIJN, Netherlands, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- A biologist in the Netherlands said recent experiment that tested the health of trees related to WiFi transmission exposure was not definitive.

"We have to be very careful what kind of conclusion can be drawn. (In fact), we cannot draw conclusions," said Dr. Andre van Lammeren, an associate professor of plant biology at Wageningen University, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

Lammeren placed 25 small trees in two separate cabinets, exposing one group to WiFi transmissions. Three months later, the exposed trees had higher incidents of leaf damage.

But Lammeren regrets the results of what he called a "preliminary experiment" had become public. The study was not published in a scientific journal, nor has it been subject to peer review.

"The effects from WiFi would seem to be pretty low, and hard to detect," said Kevin Smith, a tree physiologist and pathologist for the U.S. Forest Service.

But Alphen aan den Rijn, a small city in western Netherlands on behalf of which Lammeren conducted his experiment, was taking the issue seriously. With 70 percent of the city's trees showing some sigh of distress, the city is hosting a symposium on the effects of transmissions on trees in February.