French woman wins disability grant for Wi-Fi allergy

Marine Richard, 39, was told she may claim €800 (£580) per month for three years as a result, BBC News reports. She said it was a "breakthrough" for people affected by electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS). The condition is recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO), though it says the causes are unclear. Ms Richard had resorted to living in a remote area in the mountains of south-west France - in a barn that has no electricity. She said she had been affected by everyday gadgets such as phones. Typical symptoms reported by those who say they suffer from EHS include headaches, fatigue, nausea and palpitations. The disability allowance was granted by a court in Toulouse, though the ruling did not formally recognise EHS as an illness. School sued In a case in the US, the parents of a 12-year-old boy who they say is hypersensitive to his boarding school's WiFi have decided to file a lawsuit against the establishment. The parents say their son, a day pupil, has been diagnosed with EHS. They say he began suffering from headaches, nosebleeds and nausea after the Fay School installed new WiFi in 2013. The school asked the communications technology firm Isotrope to assess the electromagnetic emissions on campus. "Isotrope found that the combined levels of access point emissions, broadcast radio and television signals, and other RFE emissions on campus comply with federal and state safety limits by a wide margin," the school said in a statement. The statement also quoted from the Isotrope report, which said that levels of emissions both in the school and on the grounds "were substantially less than one ten-thousandth (1/10,000th) of the applicable safety limits (federal and state)".

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