In many Italian homes the ritual is always the same: you come home in the evening, you turn on the TV and the router is nearby, placed next to the sofa or stuck on a nearby shelf. It is an object that works in silence, and for this very reason we tend to look at it with a certain distrust. Some people naturally wonder whether that closeness is really harmless or not.
It’s a question that Vincenzo Schettinithe professor who became the face of dissemination thanks to “The Physics We Like”faces often. He does it in his direct way, the one that manages to transform complex concepts into everyday images, without frills. And it brings the discussion exactly where it is needed: understanding what a router really emits and how our body reacts to those emissions.
Because the router cannot damage DNA
Schettini starts from the most important thing: Wi-Fi is based on radio waves. They are the same ones that allow us to listen to the radio in the car or make phone calls. They do not have the strength to interact with DNA, because they fall into the category of non-ionizing waves. In other words, they don’t have the energy needed to damage cells from the inside.
This point is the key that we often forget. The router has nothing to do with radiation which, for example, requires special protection in the medical field. The distance between the two worlds is enormous, and this information is enough to reduce many fears.
The issue of heat remains, which sometimes generates other fears. Schettini clarifies this with a simple comparison: only very intense emission can heat tissues, like a microwave oven does. But the power of a common home router is so low that it doesn’t even come close to that type of effect. And it is a fact also confirmed by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, which defines the exposure as “much lower” than international limits.
Distance, common sense and that relationship with the objects that live with us
Then there is another, almost intuitive, aspect that Schettini highlights: signal strength decreases rapidly with distance. It’s the same reason why sometimes all it takes is a wall to weaken your Wi-Fi. If the signal struggles to reach the smartphone in the kitchen, it is difficult to think that it could be dangerous when it passes by us while we are on the sofa.
Those who want to sleep more peacefully can still adjust the power of the router or program it to turn off at night. Newer models allow this easily. It is not a necessary measure for health, but it can be a way to feel more serene.
And for those who really can’t stand the idea of keeping the router too close, there is an even simpler solution: move it to a less frequented area of the house. There is no need to revolutionize the furnishings. These are the type of actions that belong more to our mental serenity than to science.
In the end, the question remains the same: does it hurt or not?
Everything leads in the same direction. Non-ionizing radio waves do not have the ability to damage DNA, the emission from domestic routers is very low and the competent bodies reiterate that the levels are well below the limits. Physics, in this case, works almost like an antidote to anxieties: it does not eliminate the initial sensation, but looks at it closely and dismantles it piece by piece.
The router, even if we keep it next to the sofa, . The rest belongs to our personal sensitivity, which we can manage with small adjustments, without transforming a household object into an invisible enemy.
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