Smart+Meters+Pose+a+Serious+Threat+to+Public+Health

SMART METERS POSE A SERIOUS THREAT TO PUBLIC HEALTH

toc August 5, 2011

**[|-Transmitting Smart Meters Pose a Serious 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 may not even comply with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) "safety" standards (see http://sagereports.com/smart-meter-rf/). 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 from 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.) [|Full article (extremely valuable information)]

-Testing Smart Meters
At the moment the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio is in the process of testing Smart Meters. However, people have been conducting their own tests and the results are quite alarming.

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-Smart Meters on your Backyard Environment
The first "obvious" casualties appear to be wild life especially bees.

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-The Dark Side of Smart Meters
While the utilities companies (American Electric Power in Central Ohio) is conducting Open Houses and telling the public that Smart Meter technology is safe and will help conserve energy, the reality is that neither claim has been proven.

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-Smart Meters and Surveillance
The surveillance aspect of Smart Meters is another consideration. Not only can AEP surveil your home and electrical usage, others will be able to do it as well. This includes the ability to determine when no one is home.

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-Smart Meter Warning from The American Academy of Environmental Medicine
[| American Academy of Environmental Medicine letter]

January 19, 2012

Proposed Decision of Commissioner Peevey (Mailed 1/22/2012) BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

On the proposed decision 11-03-014

Dear Commissioners:

The Board of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine opposes the installation of wireless "smart meters" in homes and schools based on a scientific assessment of the current medical literature (references available on request). Chronic exposure to wireless radiofrequency radiation is a preventable environmental hazard that is sufficiently well documented to warrant immediate preventative public health action.

As representatives of physician specialists in the field of environmental medicine, we have an obligation to urge precaution when sufficient scientific and medical evidence suggests health risks which can potentially affect large populations. The literature raises serious concern regarding the levels of radio frequency (RF - 3 KHz - 300 GHz) or extremely low frequency (ELF - o- 300 Hz) exposures produced by "smart meters" to warrant an immediate and complete moratorium on their use and deployment until further study can be performed.

The board of the American Board of Environmental Medicine wishes to point out that existing FCC guidelines for RF safety that have been used to justify installation of "smart meters" only look at thermal tissue damage and are obsolete, since many modern studies show metabolic and genomic damage from RF and ELF exposures below the level of intensity which heats tissues. The FCC guidelines are therefore inadequate for use in establishing public health standards. More modern literature shows medically and biologically significant effects of RF and ELF at lower energy densities. These effects accumulate over time, which is an important consideration given the chronic nature of exposure from "smart meters". The current medical literature raises credible questions about genetic and cellular effects, hormonal effects, male fertility, blood/brain barrier damage and increased risk of certain types of cancers from RF or ELF levels similar to those emitted from "smart meters". Children are placed at particular risk for altered brain development, and impaired learning and behavior. Further EMF/RF adds synergistic effects to the damage observed from a range of toxic chemicals. Given the widespread, chronic and essentially inescapable ELF/RF exposure of everyone living near a "smart meter", the Board of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine finds it unacceptable from a public health standpoint to implement this technology until these serious medical concerns are resolved. We consider a moratorium on installation of wireless "smart meters" to be an issue of the highest importance.

The Board of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine also wises to note that the US NIEHS National Toxicology Program in 1999 cited radiofrequency radiation as a potential carcinogen. Existing safety limits for pulsed RF were termed "not protective of public health" by the Radiofrequency Interagency Working Group (a federal interagency working group including the FDA, FCC, OSHA, the EPA and others). Emissions given off by "smart meters" have been classified by the World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as a Possible Human Carcinogen.

Hence, we call for:

• An immediate moratorium on "smart meter" installation until these serious public health issues are resolved. Continuing with their installation would be extremely irresponsible.

• Modify the revised proposed decision to include hearings on health impact in the second proceedings, along with cost evaluation and community wide opt-out.

• Provide immediate relief to those requesting it and restore the analog meters.

Members of the Board American Academy of Environmental Medicine