By Nancy Thorner -
Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) is pushing for the deployment of 4,000,000 smart meters despite the fact that government agencies and the military have known for decades that Radio Frequency/microwaves can cause serious health effects.
This information is not new; it is just being brought to the forefront as a health crisis is emerging in Illinois. ComEd is using the Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act, also known as the “smart grid modernization bill” (written by ComEd lobbyists), and the Illinois Commerce Commission’s interpretation of that bill, as justification for installing millions of wireless smart meters.
The RF/microwave emissions from smart meters are listed by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer ‘IARC’ as a Class 2B Carcinogen. That makes this the first time in history a known carcinogen has been mandated on ALL homes, schools, and government buildings.
Barrier Trower, a retired British Secret Service Microwave Weapons specialist, states:
“The paradox is how Radio Frequency/microwave radiation can be used as a weapon to cause impairment, illness and death; and at the same time be used as a communications instrument [such as in smart meters].”
Trower continues, “By 1971 we knew everything that needed to be known.”
“A 1976 document summarizing U.S. Defense Intelligence research lists all of the health hazards caused by wireless devices and concludes: This should be kept secret to preserve industrial profit.”
Jerry Flynn, is a retired Canadian Armed Forces captain with specialized training and 22 years of experience in Electronic Warfare and Signals Intelligence. Flynn has worked with U.S. and NATO armies in this specialized capacity. He writes:
“The U.S. military has known for decades that the RF/microwave frequencies most harmful to man are those within the band 900 MHz to 5 GHz. These frequencies penetrate all organs of the body, thus putting all human organ systems at risk. Smart meters emit these precise frequencies which, when combined with certain pulsed modulation characteristics and power densities, are most harmful to the brain, central nervous system, immune system, and can cause cancers. This is precisely why these frequencies are used in Microwave weapons of war.”
ComEd smart meters contain two transmitters emitting high-intensity pulsed signals every few seconds in two frequencies within the “most harmful” range mentioned by Flynn. One frequency is 900 MHz used for the wireless network that relays data from the smart meter on one house to the smart meter on another house and then on to a collector which sends the data to ComEd. The second frequency, 2.45 GHz, is used for appliances inside the house to transmit data to the smart meter.
Although ComEd claims that data is only transmitted six times a day, what they neglect to mention is that smart meters also emit high-intensity RF/microwave pulses each time they perform network management functions. According to California court documents, a single smart meter can emit these pulses on average 10,000 to 190,000 a day. The number of pulses depends on where in the mesh network the smart meter is located and how often it is relaying data from other neighbors’ meters.
It is these around-the-clock, high-intensity pulses within the frequency range “most harmful” to humans that make smart meters so damaging. Consider 4,000,000 ComEd smart meters blanketing Illinois with billions of pulses in these frequencies being emitted every day, forever.
Basis for FCC guidelines: Health or Profits?
The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) knew decades ago, for according to Gittleman, “back in the 1950’s there were growing concerns as to the dangers of these low-level microwaves, so the U.S. military had sought safety limits.”
The current FCC safety limits are based on thermal exposure alone. The FCC guidelines are ten times more lenient than what the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would have permitted to protect the general population from the health hazards of RF/microwave radiation.
In the late 1980’s, the EPA radiation division, staffed with practicing biologists and epidemiologists, decided on a safe limit for human exposure. Before the announcement was made, industry intervened, federal funding for that division of the EPA was cut, and the FCC was given the task of setting the RF/microwave guidelines for the public. The FCC, made up of bureaucrats and engineers, had no experience or training in setting “health related” guidelines. Therefore, from the beginning, FCC guidelines were set at a limit that was too lenient to protect the general population.
Government agencies respond to the FCC guidelines
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 1993: “FCC exposure standards are seriously flawed.” In fact, 40 EPA scientists released a 393 page report titled, An Evaluation of the Potential resolution proposing classifying RF/EMF fields a “probable carcinogen”. The White House silenced the classification stating it would, “scare the American public”.
- Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 1993: “FCC rules do not address the issue of long-tern chronic exposure to Radio Frequency fields. Data strongly suggests that RF/microwaves can accelerate the development of cancer.”
- National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)—a division of the Center for Disease Control (CDC), 1994: “FCC’s standard is inadequate because it is only based on adverse health effects caused by body tissue heating (which means thermal).”
- U.S. Consumer Affairs Commission, 1999: “Current thermal guidelines associated with Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) are irrelevant. Cancer and Alzheimer’s are associated with non-thermal EMR effects.”
- Environmental Protection Agency, 2002: “FCC’s current Radio Frequency/microwave exposure guidelines are thermally based, and do not apply to chronic, non-thermal exposure situations.” Norbert Hankin, Director, Radiation Protection Division
Medical and legal groups respond to the FCC guidelines
Today there are more than 900 health and environmentally conscious groups sending comments to the FCC as part of the agency’s reassessment of the guidelines. The American Academy of Pediatrics, with headquarters in Illinois, is one of these concerned medical organizations. The Academy of Environmental Medicine, along with the American Academy of Justice (formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America), are two more such groups. All of these organizations are concerned with saving the environment and preserving public health from the government approved harmful levels of microwave radiation.
ComEd touts compliance with FCC standards to assure the public that smart meters are safe. However, FCC exposure guidelines are irrelevant since the limit set is for thermal exposure. ComEd smart meters subject the public to chronic non-thermal exposure.
Which authorities knew or should have known of RF/microwave harm?
The U.S. military and intelligence agencies: As early as the 1950’s, the military and intelligence agencies were aware of the health effects from RF/microwaves. From 1,000 classified studies, it was apparent that even low-level RF/microwaves could create bio-effects that could be used to disrupt the enemy in covert, or battlefield operations. RF/microwaves could be utilized to create confusion, slow reaction time, create nausea, and shock adversaries in the field.
NASA: This space agency has been studying the health effects for years to facilitate protection from electromagnetic radiation for astronauts traveling in space.
Government Health Departments: These departments are charged with protecting public health and have a responsibility to keep up on studies. At this time, there are thousands of peer-reviewed studies showing adverse biological and health effects.
The Department of Energy: It is the duty of this agency to investigate negative health effects before launching such an expansive national project. No health data was considered before deployment of billions of smart meters in wireless networks.
The World Health Organization: In 2011 the International Agency for Research on Cancer ‘IARC’ categorized Radio Frequency emissions from all wireless devices as a Class 2B Carcinogen. ComEd’s wireless smart meters fall into this category. Although the IARC classification has been known for five years, the deployment of 4,000,000 ComEd smart meters is still being mandated.
The Telecom executives: Two decades ago Dr. George Carlo, who was in charge of the Wireless Technology Research (WTR) project in 1993 informed the Telecom executives. He reported the results of the research which revealed an alarming increase in tumors and many other health related problems.
Lloyd’s of London: This well-known insurance underwriter now specifically “excludes liability coverage for claims directly or indirectly resulting from electromagnetic radiation and illnesses caused by continuous, long-term, (non-thermal) radiation exposure.” ComEd’s wireless smart meters will inflict continuous, long-term, (non-thermal) radiation exposure on all life forms.
Utilities, such as ComEd: Utilities have been charged with providing safe delivery of electricity. Clearly, there has been no investigation into the safety of incorporating into the electric grid a product utilizing this dangerous technology.
What scientists recognize about “the emerging public health crisis”
The International EMF Scientist Appeal has been signed by 190 scientists from 39 nations. These scientists have collectively published over 2,000 peer-reviewed papers on the biological or health effects of non-thermal radiation and are calling upon the United Nations, World Health Organization, and UN member states to:
- Address the emerging public health crisis related to wireless devices, wireless utility meters [smart meters] and wireless infrastructure.
- Urge that UN Environmental Program initiate an assessment of current exposure standards [in order] to substantially lower human exposures to non-thermal radiation.
- Take a planetary view of potential for harm that EMF pollution presents to biology—the evolution, health, well-being and very survival of all living organisms worldwide.
Illinois politicians and members of the General Assembly: What do they know?
Members of the General Assembly, who voted to pass the smart grid modernization bill, (after “ComEd’s lobbyists were able to muscle the bill through”, according to the Illinois Attorney General), and/or voted to override Governor Quinn’s veto, might want to take another look at the health threat being inflicted on ComEd customers. Why would any political leader knowingly permit their constituents to be forced to live with a meter on their homes that emits a known Class 2B Carcinogen?
With a mandate in place and no permanent opt-out option available, residents are powerless to protect their families. In order for justice to prevail, consumer choice has to be restored, and a permanent opt-out option granted to ComEd customers.
They knew, they did not tell us, where do we go from here?
Flynn’s summary on smart meter dangers:
“Pulsed non-thermal radiation, which is emitted by smart meters, is far more damaging at the body’s cellular level to all life forms than any other technology ever devised by man. Militaries of the world have known for more than 50 years that RF/microwaves are the perfect weapon. Today, democratic governments are knowingly and callously authorizing untested (for safety) smart meters to operate (emitting pulsed non-thermal radiation) at the most lethal frequencies known to man.”
