Category: wireless
Australia Smart Meter Forum: Wireless effects on health
From Stop Smart Meters Australia: “Nicole Bijlsma, author of Healthy Home, Healthy Family, a Building Biologistand founder of the Australian College of Environmental Studies, presented a moving account of the effects of increased electromagnetic radiation levels on the population and, in particular, on children. She said that our children are the “canaries in the mine”. Nicole pointed to overseas standards for radio frequency emissions which have been set at a fraction of our standards. She called for urgent action on smart meters, saying that smart meter emissions affect the population in their home, the one place in which children were able to rest and should be safe. Nicole said that already 30,000 papers have been produced on electromagnetic radiation in the last 30 years. “By the time the data is available [on smart meter effects], it may be too late.”
Americans Beware: Nationwide Violations of FCC Radiation Limits at Wireless Antenna Sites
From The EMRadiation Policy Institute (EMRPI): US workers and families are at risk of overexposure to RF at hazardous levels. Hundreds of wireless industry-operated antenna sites from Maine to California have been tested by EMRPI and found to be in gross violation — up to and in excess of 600% — of the FCC’s public exposure limits. These sites include rooftops as well as locations where the general public, including children, can gain access, and where workers are on the job. (See video below.)
Wireless Radiation Can Harm Health.
Public health is threatened by wireless radiation exposure at current FCC lawful limits as they are among the least protective in the world. FCC safety limits do not acknowledge current science, nor the 2011 World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer’s classification of wireless radiation as a 2B carcinogen. The FCC does not even enforce its own inadequate radiation limits.
FCC Fails to Enforce Its Own Wireless Radiation Limits.
EMRPI informed FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski in December 2011 of widespread FCC rules violations. Despite detailed complaint letters sent to FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief P. Michele Ellison, of RF safety violations in 23 states across all regions of the US, EMRPI has received no response that the FCC has taken any enforcement action against any noncompliant site. EMRPI’s investigation re-tested sites and found violations still occurring months after EMRPI’s initial filings with the FCC. The FCC responded to a US Senator’s inquiry on sites in her state with misleading information about the safety of the Senator’s constituents.
Are the FCC and the Wireless Industry Turning a Blind Eye to RF Violations?
FCC policy allows wireless companies to self-report their compliance with the lawful RF limits. The FCC website provides no information or procedures for either the public or workers to report potential or actual violations. Despite hundreds of thousands of wireless antenna sites across the US, since 1996 the FCC has issued only one wireless Notice of Violation, and not until 2010. Is FCC policing site violations and are violations hidden from the public?
The American Public Is Not Protected.
Congress must act to hold the FCC accountable. If not, Americans will remain at risk from unlawful RF radiation exposures at antenna sites across the country. The American people have a right to know and a right to be protected. EMRPI urges the American people to demand that the FCC enforce its own RF safety limits to protect all Americans.
Sebastopol stand up against PG&E Smart Meters! Come to the City Council meeting on Tuesday 2/19
Sebastopol has asked for a moratorium on Smart Meters twice. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is currently evaluating a Smart Meter opt-out program that includes communities. However, recently PG&E has been installing Smart Meters in Sebastopol.
Do you want to see the City Council take a stronger stand against PG&E and ban Smart Meters Sebastopol, like they’ve been banned by a dozen other California communities including Fairfax, Santa Cruz, and Ojai?
Come to the Sebastopol city council meeting on Tuesday February 19 at the Teen center. *Arrive around 8 pm. The Sebastopol City Council needs to see new faces and hear from more people on this issue!
The council has been asked to take the following three actions which are recommended by Fairfax councilman Larry Bragman. Fairfax has had more success in keeping PG&E Smart Meters out of Fairfax.
- Have the city attorney send a strong message to CPUC President Michael Peevey, ALJ Amy Yip-Kikugawa, and PG&E regarding stopping Smart Meter installation is Sebastopol.
- Adopt an emergency ordinance, banning Smart Meters.
- Adopt a community opt-out resolution.
Smart Meters are costing us money, privacy and our health and safety!
Smart Meter complaints include: skyrocketing utility bills, privacy invasion, vulnerable to cyber attack, interference with security systems and other wireless devices, burned out appliances, explosions, fires, health problems including headaches, tinnitus, sleep and heart problems, anxiety, nausea, and other health symptoms following installation.
Smart Meters monitor the details of your electric usage and transmit that data from meter to meter in a mesh network, using wireless radiation, classified as a possible carcinogen by the World Health Organization (same as DDT and lead). Smart Meters don’t save energy and they are not good for the environment!
SEBASTOPOL PROTECT YOUR ANALOG METERS!
You have a choice. If you still have analog meters, you can attach this Smart Meter Do Not Consent Sign to your meters. You can also sign up with PG&E to opt-out, however at this time they’re charging extortion fees. The “costs” are under evaluation at the CPUC, and many are calling for a no fees. If you have Smart Meters you can call PG&E 1-866-743-0263 to have them removed.
You can also let others know about Smart Meter problems, by circulating this flyer in Sebastopol: FRONT: SmartMeters flyer BACK: Smart Meter Do Not Consent Sign
Smart Meter installers tend to leave when questioned. They drive white Ford Ranger trucks with a green “Wellington Energy” logo on the driver’s door. It also could be a PG&E truck. Call if you see installers in Sebastopol: 824-0824
* The City council meeting starts at 6pm, so 8pm is an estimated time, based on it’s agenda item #8. It could be later, not likely earlier.
Resonance: Beings of Frequency (documentary film)
BioInitiative 2012 Report: new urgent warnings on wireless and EMF public health risks
A new updated BioInitiative 2012 Report says that evidence for risks to health has substantially increased since 2007 from electromagnetic fields (EMF) and wireless technologies/radiofrequency radiation (RFR). The report reviews over 1800 new scientific studies and includes 29 independent science and medical experts from around the world. Cell phone users, parents-to-be, young children and pregnant women are at particular risk.
Summary of Key Scientific Evidence:
- Evidence for Damage to Sperm and Reproduction
- Evidence that Children are More Vulnerable
- Evidence for Fetal and Neonatal Effects
- Evidence for Effects on Autism (Autism Spectrum Disorders)
- Evidence for Electrohypersensitivity
- Evidence for Effects from Cell Tower-Level RFR Exposures
- Evidence for Effects on the Blood-brain Barrier
- Evidence for Effects on Brain Tumors
- Evidence for Effects on Genes (Genotoxicity)
- Evidence for Effects on the Nervous System (Neurotoxicity)
- Evidence for Effects on Cancer (Childhood Leukemia, Adult Cancers)
- Melatonin, Breast Cancer and Alzheimer’s Disease
- Stress, Stress Proteins and DNA as a Fractal Antenna
- Effects of Weak-Field Interactions on Non-Linear Biological Oscillators and Synchronized Neural Activity
Cell and cordless phones linked to cancer
Lennart Hardell, MD at Orebro University, Sweden says, “There is a consistent pattern of increased risk for glioma (a malignant brain tumor) and acoustic neuroma with use of mobile and cordless phones.” He further states:
“Epidemiological evidence shows that radiofrequency should be classified as a human carcinogen. The existing FCC/IEEE and ICNIRP public safety limits and reference levels are not adequate to protect public health.”
A dozen new studies link cell phone radiation to sperm damage. Even a cell phone in the pocket or on a belt may harm sperm DNA, result in misshapen sperm, and impair fertility in men. Laptop computers with wireless internet connections can damage DNA in sperm.
Based on strong evidence for vulnerable biology in autism, EMF/RFR can plausibly increase autism risk and symptoms. ” While we aggressively investigate the links between autism disorders and wireless technologies, we should minimize wireless and EMF exposures for people with autism disorders, children of all ages, people planning a baby, and during pregnancy,” says Martha Herbert, MD, PhD.
Wireless devices such as phones and laptops used by pregnant women may alter brain development of the fetus. This has been linked in both animal and human studies to hyperactivity, learning and behavior problems.
There is more evidence than we need
“The last five years worth of new scientific studies tell us the situation is much worse than in 2007 and yet people around the world have so much more daily exposure than even five years ago. Exposures are linked to a variety of adverse health outcomes that may have significant public health consequences.” (Editor’s notes)
“There is now much more evidence of risks to health affecting billions of people world-wide. The status quo is not acceptable in light of the evidence for harm.” David O. Carpenter, MD, co-editor Bioinitiative 2012 Report.
This study covers EMF from powerlines, electrical wiring, appliances and hand-held devices; and from wireless technologies (cell and cordless phones, cell towers, ‘smart meters’, WI-FI, wireless laptops, wireless routers, baby monitors, and other electronic devices). Health topics include damage to DNA and genes, effects on memory, learning, behavior, attention, sleep disruption, cancer and neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s disease. New safety standards are urgently needed for protection against EMF and wireless exposures that now appear everywhere in daily life.
A new suggested RFR precautionary level
A reduction from the BioInitiative 2007 recommendation of 0.1 uW/cm2 for cumulative outdoor pulsed RFR down to something three orders of magnitude lower is justified in 2012 on a public health basis. A precautionary action level of 0.0003 uW/cm2 to 0.0006 uW/cm2 is suggested.
Applying a ten-fold reduction to the ‘effects level’ reported in short-term studies or studies on adults is intended to compensate for the lack of long-term exposure in a particular study, or to adjust for using adult studies in considering children as a sensitive subpopulation.
We hold their future in our hands
Acknowledgements for the report go to the “many independent scientists, researchers and experts who have labored, some for decades – many of whom are no longer with us – to bring this body of science into the public arena.”
Cindy Sage, Co-Editor of the report extends gratitude to her husband and family and “to Avery, Drake, Ford, Jenner, Luke, Solei, and all the children whose trusting faces remind us that we hold their future in our hands.”
Smart Meter Infrastructure
In California, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) uses two types of antennas to relay and collect data from smart meters. The smart meters themselves use a mesh network system that transmits pulsed RF radiation sending data from meter to meter. Most of the near constant transmission is for the wireless management system that ensures the system is working. The PG&E system also uses cell phone antennas to relay data.
The gas data collectors are often mounted on utility poles. They have a two prong antenna, that looks like a football goal post and that’s mounted above a small solar collector (not shown).
Electric repeaters are also mounted on utility poles or streetlights and the antenna points downward. If you’d like to know where these are located in your area contact your utility company. For PG&E contact Denise Alexander.
Thanks to Amy O’Hair and Angela Flynn for these photos.