Smart Meters Threat To Public Health
Transmitting smart meters are being installed nationwide on
gas, water, and electrical services, driven in part by
funding for the Smart Grid Program approved as part of the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
This is of great concern because the exposure to microwave
and radiowave radiation from these meters is involuntary and
continuous. The transmitting meters do comply with Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) "safety" standards. However,
those standards were initially designed to protect an
average male from tissue heating (cooking) during a brief
exposure. These standards were not designed to protect a
diverse population from the non-thermal effects of
continuous exposure to microwave and radiowave radiation.
Therefore, these "safety" standards were not designed to
protect the public from health problems under the
circumstances which the meters are being used. The
transmitting meters most often being used transmit
continuously, every few seconds. This is picked up by a
receiver and logged by the utility. You are exposed to the
transmissions for all the meters within transmitting range.
The meters often have a range of over 2 miles. Thus, the
exposure is continuous and the "safety" standards the meters
comply with are irrelevant to the situation. Please read
this letter from the Radiation Protection Division of the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding the
limitations of the FCC standards.
Some transmitting meters transmit at less frequent
intervals, however, they still seem to be causing health
problems. This could be due to the still elevated levels of
radiowaves and microwaves in the neighborhood because of all
the neighbors transmitters. Remember, many, many meters are
transmitting at these intervals. (One person with a meter
transmitting hourly reports waking at the time it
transmits.)
The transmitting meters can also put high frequencies
directly on home and building wiring. This can happen
deliberately through signaling to electrical loads or
inadvertently through poor engineering. Poorly engineered
meters can cause electrical pollution by putting the
transmitted signal directly on home wiring or by the way
they draw power to operate. Whether deliberate or
inadvertent, studies are finding high frequencies on
building wiring is related to a host of health problems.
Milham and Morgan found a dose-response relationship between
high frequencies present on building wiring and cancer.
Removing high frequencies on building wiring has improved MS
symptoms, blood sugar levels, asthma, sleep quality, teacher
health, headaches, ADD, and numerous other health problems.
(Visit Research page to see papers.) Technical papers
provide a solid electrical and biomolecular basis for these
effects.
A recent paper by Ozen, showed that transients induce much
stronger current density levels in the human body than does
the powerline 60Hz signal. A technical paper by Vignati and
Giuliani discusses the authors' findings that high frequency
communication signals on power lines also induce much
stronger electrical currents in the human body than a low
frequency signal of the same strength. The induced currents
disturb normal intercellular communications. This causes
harmful short-term and long-term effects. Please see the
Technical page for information about properly measuring the
high frequencies on building wiring that are causing health
problems. There is also a simple meter that lay people can
use to easily measure most high frequencies on building
wiring.
The objectives of the Smart Grid Program can be accomplished
without transmitting meters and without using other
technology such as high frequency communication over power
lines, which are also harmful to human health. It simply
requires that meters be selected that are properly
engineered to meet the needs of the program without using
dangerous technology. Multi-rate billing and other
sophisticated metering options do not require that the meter
transmit.
Models are available that download periodically on phone
lines, dedicated communication lines, or are read by a
reader the meter reader carries. Dedicated communication
cables can be used to shut off or allow on certain power
consuming electronics such as air conditioners. It is
essential that only meters that do not transmit or put high
frequency signals on building wiring are approved for the
Smart Grid Program.
The un-safeness of the "safety" standards for the
continuously transmitting smart meters is apparent from the
reports of health problems ranging from headaches to poor
sleep to heart palpitations that begin after their
installation.
Transmitted microwave and radiowave radiation also have the
potential for causing serious long-term health consequences,
even for those who do not notice overt symptoms. The
majority of independent studies report similar results:
impairment of cellular communication, DNA breakages,
increased stress proteins, etc. Studies targeting cellphone
and cordless phone usage are finding increased risk of brain
tumors. Children seem to be particularly vulnerable. A
review of studies performed prior to 2007 is available at
http://www.bioinitiave.org. A recent public health study
provides particularly strong evidence that we should be
concerned about continuous exposure to transmitted microwave
radiation. It can be found in a paper published in
Pathophysiology (Volume 16, Issue 1, June 2009, Pages 43-46)
Apparent decreases in Swedish public health indicators after
1997-Are they due to improved diagnostics or to
environmental factors?.
The authors looked at trend lines in data collected by the
Swedish government and found that the introduction of
cellphone technology nationwide in 1997 coincided with the
beginning of an accelerating deterioration of several health
indicators. Specifically, the rates of prostate cancer,
brain tumors, melanomas and lung cancers in the elderly all
increased dramatically. So did deaths from Alzheimer's
disease, traffic accident injuries, sick leave rates, and
percentage of infants born with heart problems. This paper
is short and well worth reading. We should resolve the
public health questions before introducing further public
exposure to microwave radiation, particularly involuntary
continuous exposure.
Radiowave and microwave radiation are not just a problem for
people, they are causing serious problems for animals of all
types. Please visit http://www.hese-project.org/hese-uk/en/issues/emr.php?id=bees
and http://www.hese-project.org/hese-uk/en/issues/ for more
information.
I will be sending updates regarding the issue of
transmitting smart meters out to my email list. You may join
the list by typing "join email list" in the subject heading
when you email the Webmaster at webmaster@electricalpollution.com.
I will also be updating the website.
If you do not have a transmitting smart meter and do not
want one for health reasons, in addition to contacting your
utility and Public Service Commission or Public Utility
Commission, please do the following:
-
Spread the word about the public health threat posed by
transmitting smart meters. Link to http://www.electricalpollution.com/smartmeters.html
on your Facebook or MySpace page, if you have one, or
notify your friends online via email.
-
Write
George Arnold, National Coordinator for Smart Grid
Interoperability. He has the power to set policy on
meter qualifications for the Smart Grid Program. The
program could, for instance, require non-transmitting
and non-electrically polluting meters. However, he will
have to be convinced of the public health threat they
pose in order to do so. (I am in the process of adding
to this list. Please join my email list or check back
for additional important actions you can take.)
If you already have a transmitting meter and it is
causing you health problems, please file a complaint
with both the agencies listed below and then send a copy
of those complaints to the EMR Policy Institute at info@emrpolicy.org
with "Transmitting Smart Meter Complaint in the subject
heading so that they can independently compile the
complaints. (Please be prepared to give STORE, including manufacturer and model number,
and health symptoms.)
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Food and Drug Administration - The FDA regulates
electronic consumer products that emit radiation (such
as microwave ovens and video monitors and cellphones).
You can file a complaint through the Medwatch Program on
their website at https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/medwatch-online.htm
or by calling 1-800-FDA-1088. The same program that
regulates medical devices, regulates consumer products
that emit radiation.
-
Consumer
Product Safety Commission - The Consumer Product
Safety Commission is responsible for taking dangerous
products off the market. You can file a complaint with
the Consumer Product Safety Commission at 1-800-638-2772
or https://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/incident.aspx. Be
prepared with the meter manufacturer, model and/or
serial number, and the symptoms it causes.
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EMR Policy Institute - Please send a copy of the
complaints filed with the FDA and the Consumer Product
Safety Commission to the EMR Policy Institute at info@emrpolicy.org
with "Transmitting Smart Meter Complaint" in the subject
heading so that they can independently compile the
complaints. This is not a substitute for filing
complaints with the FDA or the Consumer Product Safety
Commission.
They will not stop installing these meters unless complaints
are filed. Check back or join the email list for further
steps you can take.
You may join the list by typing "join email list" in the
subject heading when you email the Webmaster at
webmaster@electricalpollution.com.
The only known cure for Radio Wave Sickness is to stop being
exposed to high frequencies.
Please see the Solutions page for a list of steps you can
take to reduce your exposure to high frequencies in your
home and the Take Action page for other ways you can help
restore a safe EMF environment to the world.
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