FINAL VERSION of Response to assurance that "smart" meters are safe, & update

Please use this final version, below, if you wish to share the letter with
others, which you are most welome to do.
I learned today that the electric company received a number of calls from
folks in my area who read my initial letter in the paper two weeks ago. I
hope those folks all see this response to what the utility company
spokesperson wrote to the paper last week, attempting to assure everyone that the
meters are safe.

Shivani Arjuna
www.LifeEnergies.com
~~~~

To The Editor,

There are few industries that put the welfare of those affected by their
policies or toxins above the profit to be made by following those policies and
creating those toxins.   It's commonplace for industries to hire PR people
-spin doctors- to respond to the public's concerns, and We Energies has an
exceptional crew at work in this capacity.

It is true, as We Energies Customer Services Vice-President Joan Shafer
states, that the radiation from their radiowave-transmitting “smart” meters is
allowable under present FCC regulations re non-ionizing radiation. 
However, FCC regulations were based years ago on inaccurate assumptions andhaven't
been updated, now being in about the stage that regulation re cigarette
smoking or asbestos was 30 or 40 years ago.

In the last few decades our exposure to radio and microwaves has been
increased many millionfold above what all life on earth evolved with. 
Frequencies at and below that of visible light are known as non-ionizing, and those
above light as ionizing. Ionizing radiation ejects electrons from atoms and
molecules, leaving them electrically imbalanced, or ionized. Such molecules
damage cells, so ionizing radiation is strictly regulated.

As we began to use higher frequencies, it was accidentally discovered that
frequencies of about 27MHz (27 mega Hertz, or 27 million cycles per second)
cause body heating. It was inaccurately concluded that any biological
effects not caused by ionization must be caused solely by overheating. Thusthe
safety standard set for exposure took only heating into consideration, relying
on how much radar MW energy it took to heat containers of salt water, which
were believed to represent the electrical characteristics of animals and
humans.

However, a living system itself supports a variety of oscillatory
electrical/ biochemical activities, each characterized by a specific frequency, some
of which happen to be close to those found in the RF/MW signals - a
coincidence that makes these bioactivities vulnerable to being interfered with in
various non-thermal ways.

In 1998, The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences concluded
that extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields should be regarded as
possible carcinogens. In 1999, The Consumer Affairs Commission found current
thermal guidelines associated with EMR irrelevant, since cancer and
Alzheimer's are associated with non-thermal EMR effects. In 2002, the EPA'sCenter
for Science and Risk Assessment, Radiation Protection Division stated: " The
FCC's current exposure guidelines, as well as those of the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the International Commission on
Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, are thermally based, and do not apply tochronic,
non-thermal exposure situations."  Nontheless, the flawed standard remains
in effect.

So much for safety assurance based on the fact that “smart”meter
radiation complies with FCC regulations.

We Energies' Ms. Shafer also remarks that “based on a large and diverse
body of research, exposure limits are designed to protect against identified
hazards.”  In fact, thousands of studies show that present exposure limits
allow extremely damaging exposure.

It's well established by research that there is a biological effect called
calcium ion efflux and influx caused by EMR at levels not involving heating.
Calcium ions play a role in the growth of cells, in DNA synthesis and in
the life and death of cells. Therefore calcium ion alteration of cells by EMR
is a biological mechanism linked to neurological degeneration neurological
diseases of age such as Alzheimer's, to cancer and many other health effects.
This occurs at intensities and field strengths much lower than allowed by
FCC regulations.

There are also well-established mechanisms by which external
electromagnetic signals are resonantly absorbed in human tissue, especiallythe brain and
heart, causing reduced melatonin. Melatonin is the most potent naturally
produced antioxidant, protecting cells from genetic damage that leads to
cancer, neurological, cardiac and reproductive damage, illness and death. 

The National Cancer Institute found a tenfold increase in brain tumors
among employees who have been exposed to microwaves at work for twenty years.

So much for safety assurance based on research showing communications
frequencies are safe.

Ms. Shafer states that the new meters operate at lower power and duration
than cell phones, hand-held devices like a BlackBerry or other radio
frequency devices, implying that they are therefore safe.

However, over 70% of the studies funded independently of the cellular phone
industry identify negative biological effects of RFR at the low power
levels typical of cell phones and cellular base station antennae.

Reports of headache are consistent with the fact that microwaves
non-thermally affect the dopamine-opiate system of the brain and increase the
permeability of the blood-brain barrier. Reports of sleep disruption are consistent
with the effect of the radiation on rapid eye movement sleep and on
melatonin levels, while memory impairment is consistent with the finding that
microwave radiation targets the hippocampus.

The production of histamine, which triggers bronchial spasms in asthma, is
nearly doubled after exposure to mobile phone transmissions. Cellphone-like
radiation also reduces the effectiveness of anti-asthmatic drugs and retards
recovery from illness.

The British medical journal The Lancet printed a study showing that
radiation from cell phones causes an increase in blood pressure and directly alters
cell function in the human body. 

Right-handed people have a higher risk of a brain tumor in the right side
of the brain, whereas left-handed people have elevated risk of a left-side
tumor.  Investigation of thousands of cases of brain tumors and mobilephones
of all types finds up to a 50% increased risk of a brain tumor after five
years, which doubles after ten years. (Note that the damage to the body is
cumulative.  Electrically sensitive people notice various symptoms immediately,
while others don't but are affected over time.)

Cell phone "safety tests" are done by exposing fluid in a plastic head to a
cell phone held next to the "ear" while the temperature of the fluid is
monitored. This has nothing to with how radiation causes harm to living
creatures in non-thermal ways.   A plastic head cannot possibly suffer from
conditions such as insomnia, headaches, forgetfulness, inability to focus,
Alzheimer's or cancer. Our heads are not plastic piñatas.

Research also shows that microwave exposure causes brain cell destruction
of up to two percent, and that low power broadcasts can be more damaging than
higher power ones, depending on frequency, modulation, bandwidth and other
properties of microwave radiation. Some of the damaged rats were only
exposed to 0.1 watt of microwave transmission.  The “smart” meter's output is
.143 watts.

So much for the reassurance that cell phone-like radiation is safe.

The most creative of Ms. Shafer's reassurances is that when a radio
wave-broadcasting meter is attached to your home “99.4 percent of the time there is
no transmission occurring.”  It's the effect of the 1440 transmissions a
day that matters. It's not in We Energies' interest to educate you about those
effects. For reliable, unbiased information, please see:
http://lifeenergies.com/he-emr/, www.microwavenews.com/, www.emrnetwork.org/,
www.powerwatch.org.uk/ and www.emfacts.com/.

Ms. Shafer mentions that their gas meters only transmit at the time the
meter is being read.  The electric meters should do the same!

~~~~

Update: I got a call today from the head engineer and the token R.N. of
the utility company. After they realized that they could not snowjob me,
the conversation turned to what to do about metering our electricity. They
may agree to place a "smart" meter at the transformer box way out at the end
of our country driveway, rather than at the house. They are "looking
into it."
They said that the once-a-month broadcast gas meters are being phased out
because they use batteries. I learned that the reason those have been
broadcasting just once a month is to keep the batteries in good shape, not to
keep people in good shape.
Someone in their customer service dept. had initially promised me that no
"smart" meter would be attached to our home, but nurse and engineer told me
that customer service did not have the authority to say that.
It was clear to me in the conversation today that only because I was very
authoritative and assertive are they looking at alternatives. Every time
they tried their usual reassurance tactics on me, I interrrupted them with
facts to the contrary, and they gave it up.
Well, we'll see how it goes.










.



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Stick it to 'em! I support you ten thousand percent, and thank you for demonstrating the rightful assertion you do.

R.