Despite a recent World Health Organization reclassification of cell phone radiation as possibly carcinogenic, a Thursday meeting at the Lodge at The Woods in Little River on how to avoid “dirty electricity” drew only six people last Thursday night.
The small turnout wasn”t for lack of information from the presenters, iridologist and master herbalist Pamela Morey and fellow resident Russell Fieber. The pair presented numerous handouts and Fieber gave a detailed presentation on how electrical radiation has increasingly invaded the human body over the past century.
“The WHO finding is groundbreaking. The idea that Wi-Fi, SmartMeters and all the wireless technologies are completely safe was piggybacked on the pronouncements that cell phones are completely safe. This WHO study calls all that into question,” Morey said.
From local listserves to input to the California Public Utilities Commission, opponents of PG&E”s SmartMeter program are championing the WHO finding as a turning point in the efforts to slow or stop SmartMeters. SmartMeters replace customary meter readers with tiny wireless devices that keep real-time records of electricity use, send regular updates to the home office in microsecond Wi-Fi bursts. Local governments and residents have asked PG&E to halt the SmartMeter program or at least create exemptions until better information is available. But PG&E, backed by the Public Utilities Commission, has insisted there is no evidence that SmartMeters pose any risk. Thus far, the utility has made no response to the WHO finding, which does not mention any specific wireless technology, much less SmartMeters and raises questions, not certainty, about cancer and cell phones.
A team of 31 scientists from 14 countries, including the United States, peer-reviewed studies, which began in the late 1990s, on cell phone safety. Increased risk of two types of brain tumors was seen only among those who had been using cell phones for at least a half hour a day for more than 10 years. The team found enough evidence to categorize personal exposure as “possibly carcinogenic to humans,” but qualified the findings by saying further study is needed for anything to be conclusive.
In October 2007, WHO also looked at wireless technologies and found, “high levels of exposure to electric and magnetic fields in the frequency up to 100 kilohertz can affect the nervous systems, resulting in acute health effects, including nerve stimulation.”
Morey told the small group in Little River about herbal remedies and ways to avoid Wi-Fi radiation, which she believes caused her own energy and health to take a turn for the worse. She said she had neighbors on both sides broadcasting Wi-Fi causing her to become tired and ill, and to learn she is an “electrosensitive” person. She suggested using copper insect screening as curtains as one of the most effective ways to block the intrusion of wireless signals.
Much of the presentation pitched plug in Graham Stetzer filters that claim to dampen the leakage of dirty electricity. Fieber demonstrated how the device reduced apparent electrical “leakage” from wall plugs in the room. They do not sell the devices and only recently discovered them. The library room at the Woods normally has Wi-Fi turned on for use by patrons. It was turned off specially for the presentation, but someone”s Wi-Fi was appearing in the room on this reporter”s computer, although not on Morey”s detectors. Did Morey feel the Wi-Fi?
“I woke up tired this morning,” she said the day after her presentation. “But I think that may have been more from the halogen lights.”
Electrosensitivity is controversial with power companies. Sufferers are often adamant about its effects, offering dramatic personal stories and often being irked by any doubtful sounding questions. Morey admits avoiding signals in a world jammed full of cell phones, Wi-Fi and many other technologies is improbable.
“That”s why it”s important to have at least where you sleep free of it,” she suggests using a Wi-Fi and signal-preventing paint in the room where one sleeps as a means to better health.
One reason Morey called the meeting is PG&E is offering direct linkups to homes in The Woods, which she thinks is a back door way of getting SmartMeters installed.
On its website, PG&E quotes from a January 2011 preliminary study by the California Council on Science and Technology entitled “Health Impacts of Radio Frequency from SmartMeters.”
The study found that wireless SmartMeters result in much smaller levels of radio frequency exposure than many existing common household electronic devices, particularly cell phones and microwave ovens.
“To date, scientific studies have not identified or confirmed negative health effects from potential non-thermal impacts of radio frequency emissions such as those produced by existing common household electronic devices and smart meters,” the PG&E E website states.
Morey described many physical symptoms from dirty electricity she has observed.
“Many people complain about a variety of side effects to dirty power, these can include headaches, ringing in the ears, trouble focusing, and a variety of other symptoms. If you suffer from some of these symptoms then you may want to discuss this with your doctor,” Morey adds.
The pair brought a copy of Samuel Milham”s book, “Dirty Electricity: Electrification and the Diseases of Civilization” which shows how cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and suicide have followed electricification and the spread of electrical devices.
Yet experts say cause-and-effect isn”t that simple. Increased stress, air pollution, water pollution, agricultural chemicals, bioengineering in food, noxious fast food and illegal drug use all have come to civilization at the same time as electrification. Isn”t it presumptuous to blame pervasive electricity for so many of society”s health problems?
Morey admitted causation is a big issue and that many problems are caused by other issues. She ate organic food and avoided toxins and was in great health until the Wi-Fi issue. She says she feels it immediately when she goes somewhere electromagnetic waves are being broadcast.
Of course, that”s nearly everywhere.
With anecdotal evidence alone driving the debate, more science is hoped for.
The last statement on the PG&E website sounds a bit like the pleas of the electrosensitive for more and better studies.
“Not enough is currently known about potential non-thermal impacts of radio frequency emissions to identify or recommend additional standards for such impacts.”
Without scientific evidence, many are unwilling to accept such theories and the electrosensitive are often perceived as intruding on the rights of others.
Morey described a local business where Wi-Fi signals are being broadcast. She was convinced the clerks there were looking much more tired lately and contacted the owner.
She was contacted by a man who listened to her opinion but didn”t believe her.
“He is a young man with Wi-Fi in his house.”
Robert Matson told the small crowd how his dog Zeus suffers panic attacks when around large amounts of electromagnetism.
Morey added that birds often flee the signals.
“I think the Wi-Fi may be more dangerous than cell phones because cell phones are turned on and off,” Morey said.
People claiming to be electrosensitive have been around much longer than Wi-Fi. Numerous people from diverse backgrounds and from many different areas have claimed that overhead powerlines, sputtering transformers or fluorescent lights were making them sick; they were generally unable to win legal cases or even be taken seriously.
Wi-Fi and electrosensitivity are bigger issues in Europe than in the United States. Sweden recognizes electrosensitivity as a disability. There are areas of Sweden where people can live free from microwaves, cell phones and Wi-Fi. France removed Wi-Fi from its libraries.
SmartMeters are now being installed across the nation, mostly without the opposition that has happened throughout Northern California. While there have been problems beyond the electrosensitive community, such as failures (including overcharging) of some meters in high temperatures, overall the industry offers impressive figures on power savings by smart meters. PG&E has launched an advertising campaign featuring happy California customers who have saved money.
The very interconnectedness of SmartMeters that makes them so useful to utilities may too be a problem. Power plant control systems and SmartMeters are two components of the smart grid that could be particularly vulnerable to cyber attacks, says Ulf Lindqvist, program director at SRI International”s Computer Science Laboratory.
Email Frank Hartzell at frankhartzell@gmail.com.
