In last week's edition considerable space was devoted to Glastonbury wi-fi.

I have re-read these letters a number of times and can still only describe the bulk of the content as passionate pseudo-scientific reactions.

My own professional Institution (The Institution of Engineering and Technology) has made a considerable investigation into the potential problems due to electromagnetic radiation and has concluded that there is no discernible risk to the general population due to such emissions.

We have a very real interest in ascertaining this as many of our members work in environments where this could be a serious concern. I spent a considerable part of my working life in close proximity to high power broadcast and other transmitters, as did the majority of my friends and colleagues, and do not know of anyone who suffered from this – other than when they did something very wrong or there was an equipment failure.

Both urban and the majority of rural humankind spend their lives immersed in a thin soup of electromagnetic radiation emanating from many different sources – broadcast TV and radio, mobile radio, mobile phones – of which wi-fi constitutes a miniscule part.

This has been the case for the last 80 years or so – admittedly short in terms of evolution. The only real and direct hazard comes if you place yourself very close to these sources, for the field strength drops off very rapidly according to the cube of the radial distance.

Staring into a "live" radar horn or an aerial panel is strongly ill-advised – you could end up with cooked eyeballs – but presence at a more normal distance is not hazardous.

Certainly, on the principle of precaution, it would be a bad idea to locate transmitting aerials close to where young children spent many hours and I, personally, would not care to live under a grid line.

It is also a bad idea to allow youngsters unfettered use of mobile phones. Cases of forms of brain cancer have been reported in Scandinavia but these have not been linked with any statistical certainty to mobile phone use.

Young, growing organisms will be the most susceptible to any radiation. Socially it's rather bad idea to let youngsters live on their mobile just as it is to allow "FB fever" to take hold.

We are, of course, electrically operated creatures and it is known that bone or tissue regrowth can be helped by appropriate use of electronic technology. I do not doubt that there are a very small number of people who are hypersensitive to radiation of all forms, just as there are people hypersensititive to chemicals.

However, wi-fi forms such a small part of the electromagnetic radiation to which they are subject that it is exceedingly unlikely to cause a problem of itself. I have not heard any calls to switch off TV and radio transmitters or demolish all mobile phone masts! Perhaps anything of this nature is a convenient "whipping-boy" for all unexplained medical problems.

It would be of much greater benefit were people to test for leakage radiation from their microwave ovens. Door seals regularly get damaged and probably lose some of their effectiveness over the years. It is also not unknown for lamp covers to be left off on lamp replacement.

I often feel concerned when I see a row of microwave ovens, conveniently at eye-cooking height, behind a pub counter. Intensively used items like this need to be checked regularly for both electrical safety and microwave leakage.

M D Rowe C.Eng. M.I.E.T.

Bleadney