THE ANTI-THEFT security tagging systems used in shops could be exposing
children to excessive electromagnetic fields, according to a computer model.
While no one knows if such fields are dangerous, radiation watchdogs are
monitoring the issue.
A team at the University of Utah has used computers to model the
electromagnetic fields produced by checkout-based tag deactivators and doorway
tag detectors. They found (Physics in Medicine and Biology, vol 46, p
2759) that while the currents induced by the devices at an adult’s head height
are below international limits, the deactivators could induce currents in the
brain of a 5-year-old that…
