Real Smart Meter Safety Science Started with Real World Symptoms and Suffering

No Premarket Health Safety Studies (None) or Post Market Monitoring; The value of 'Citizen Science' including Sleep Stories, (Sudden Onset Challenges 'Cured' by a Clean EMF/RF Environment)

Image Courtesy Flo Freshman

If you suddenly developed insomnia, would you ever have thought to contact your electric company?

Source: Total EMF Solutions

This is Paul’s Story. When the Arizona utility company came to install a new ‘smart’ meter on Paul Harding’s home over 10 years ago, he welcomed it, because he thought that it would enable him to save money.

(New utility meters do not just record consumption data for monthly billing. They collect and transmit real-time data 24/7/365 to enable time-of-use billing, with peak, off-peak, and other rate schemes, including pre-pay, and widescale citizen surveillance. The data is sent either wirelessly or via the powerlines)

Then, the next morning, he was awoken abruptly at 3:12-3:15 am, “from a dead sleep to 100 MPH.” When it happened again at the exact same time the next morning, not sleeping, with the smart meter mounted 3 feet from his head, Paul got up and took out his computer. He typed in a search for “smart meter sleep problems.”

“Pilot” Programs?

His query took him to Joshua’s Hart’s “Stop Smart Meters” website in California, and from there to the site of Canadian researcher Magda Havas, and the archive of military research papers by Zory Glaser. Paul spent the whole night reading. From that night on, everything in his life changed. At the time, he thought that it all started in February of 2011 with the meter. But he later realized that it had started a decade earlier.

Paul began his campaign to get the meter removed from his home by calling the utility company, every day. And, his health was getting worse. He was experiencing numbness in his face and hands, digestive difficulties, tinnitus (which he later learned was microwave hearing), weight gain, and anxiety.

Salt River Project in Arizona is No Stranger to Smart Meter Technology

When the utility contacted him, they had a question for him. “You had a new meter back in 2001, when you were part of the pilot program. Why didn’t you contact us back then?” And, it was true. In 2009, Smart Energy.com reported, “Salt River Project in Arizona is no stranger to smart meter technology, having been deploying smart metering for over a decade.”

Paul thought back to the wrecking ball that hit his home and his neighborhood years back – his soon-to-be ex-wife’s bloody noses, their migraines, the kids always being sick, their irritability, and the impact on other homes in the area, with divorces, health issues including cancers, and early deaths. “No one was well in that neighborhood. They ruined our lives.”

Years later, Paul was visiting a family member who was working on the smart meter roll-out in Maine. His relative was complaining about “the crackpots that thought that they could ‘hear’ the meters.” Paul looked at him and said, “I can hear the meters.” By the end of the evening, the utility employee lamented, “I am working for the devil.” Paul explains, “They send the data in short bursts at 4 am, and they are not ‘heating’ anyone, so it’s presumed to be safe. But it’s also like saying, ‘We’re saving the planet by getting rid of you.’”

Paul tells the story of having brunch in a diner a few years ago. The waitress lamented that she was waking up every morning at 3:15 am. Every customer was paying attention, incredulously, as Paul explained that it was her electric meter.

This is an example of the potential for the evolution of science, and the contributions of citizen science in addressing environmental risks and harm - truth telling and paying attention to real world conditions.

(You and your doctor won’t figure things out if you are referred to a medical sleep center for evaluation.)

What Should We Call Human Experimentation That Does Not Monitor Humans?

Scientists, including those who signed the International EMF Scientist’s Appeal, do not look at grid monitoring equipment in a distant energy lab, or utility investment projections. They don’t measure exposures against theoretical guidelines that do not account for cumulative, chronic, and juxtaposed exposures, or live people. This is not my opinion. The National Academies identified inadequacies in the RFR/EMF research record back in 2008. (free online)

Identification of Research Needs Relating to Potential Biological or Adverse Health Effects of Wireless Communication Devices | The National Academies Press

The list of 17 inadequately researched variables including some of these topics: children, pregnant women, fetuses….

This is not health safety testing, especially when harm is being reported

As noted in our last article, the limited number of complaints that reached public utility regulators are being ignored or suppressed, (or in the case of New Mexico, prohibited). They are not being addressed by any federal agency, including the FCC and FDA.

These institutional structural barriers are preventing the evolution of the EMF/RF health and safety science.

Early Examples of Citizen Science - What People Actually Experienced

Paul shared more details of his smart meter journey on his website.

Source: Total EMF Solutions

Volunteer websites, chat groups, and email chains have emerged in nearly every meter-deployed area. (I don’t know of any exceptions)

This was necessary as the result of a massive abdication of duty on the part of the agencies that should have been protecting health, which continues today.

The chronicles of early histories/early warnings were created (and financed) by earnest citizen volunteers, some of whom were ill. A number of groups are now on Facebook, (some no longer active, others pivoted to other RF issues).

Every opt out policy quantified here indicates engaged action born of harm.

Two “Early” Complaint Collections

Smart Meter Health Complaints – EMF Safety Network

Why Stop Smart Meters? | Stop Smart Meters! (over 500 comments)

Videos of Testimonies - A Decade Ago

There are also historical videos of ratepayers testifying before public utility commissions, for example:

CPUC Smart Meter Opt-out PHC Pt.3 of 3 May 17, 2012 (May 16, 2012) Audio of CPUC Smart Meter Opt-out Prehearing Conference for Phase 2 (PHC) in 3 parts, part 3. Location: San Francisco, CA. CPUC meeting for Parties to Consolidated Smart Meter Opt-out Proceeding(s) A.11-03-014 et al. The purpose of the PHC was to discuss the scope and procedural schedule for this consolidated proceeding pursuant to Decision (D.) 12-02-014, D.12-04-018 and D.12.04-019. Administrative Law Judge (CPUC) Amy Yip-Kikugawa presided over the meeting. There is a complete transcript at Center for Electrosmog Prevention see URL on screen. 33 minutes

CPUC Pres Peevey Tries To Shutdown Speakers Against "Smart Meters" At the December 18, 2014 meeting of the California Public Utility Commission, the president of the CPUC president Michael Peevey tried to shutdown the speakers who were giving testimony about the affects of "Smart Meters" and the health and safety dangers to workers and the public. This was his last day of president of the Commission and has been forced out by charges of conflicts of interest and corruption. Testimony was given about the serious health and safety issues faced by the public as a result of the installation of "smart meters". 16 minutes

Opponents confront CPUC on Smart Meters 6 minutes, with Joshua Hart of Stop Smart Meters

Society of Environmental Journalists: 2011, Smart Meters

One next step was that various groups and organizations started to quantify some of the emerging ‘data,’ another was the start of legal actions.

In 2011, the Society of Environmental Journalists published Many Are Claiming Health Problems Caused by Smart Meters

Many Are Claiming Health Problems Caused by Smart Meters | SEJ - Many early references at link

“CLAIMS AND COUNTERCLAIMS Given the existing evidence, the Council of Europe (an advisory body to the European Parliament that has been tasked with promoting democracy and protecting human rights and the rule of law) issued a resolution in May 2011 expressing numerous concerns about possible harm from various electromagnetic emissions, and generally recommending a cautious approach, saying "there could be extremely high health and economic costs if early warnings are neglected," similar to what happened with asbestos, leaded gasoline, and tobacco.

The Council also said current international standards "have serious limitations." [] The EPA agreed in 2002 with the Council's caveat about existing standards, saying frequently-made claims that the FCC guidelines provide protection against a wide range of possible health effects from wireless emissions are unjustified. [] EPA, July 16, 2002, letter from Norbert Hankin (no longer listed with the agency), Center for Science and Risk Assessment, Radiation Protection Division, to Janet Newton, the EMR Network.

Nonetheless, many utility officials and others addressing this issue today are making just those kinds of claims, and saying smart meters pose no risk.” - Society of Environmental Journalists

EMF and poor sleep quality, the mechanism explained

As knowledge about harm grew following the smart meter roll-out, professional training was created for health care providers. The training is now available on-line free and open to the public.

One concern is sleep and melatonin production, with implications for cancer.

The best kept secret, until now. More and more people are experiencing poor sleep and don't know why. This clip explains it all. From the James Russell documentary "Resonance: Beings of Frequency". Professor Denis Henshaw is from Bristol University and the scientist is Dr Roger Coghill.

Late Lessons from Early Warnings

The number of individuals who attempted to report smart meter injuries, and were ignored, is unknown.

The number of individuals who were harmed but had no idea that their electromagnetic environment was altered or that it mattered, and who chased symptoms, (sleep medication, anxiety medication, fertility challenges, digestive issues) is unknown.

Lack of success in pausing deployments in favor of safety is not indicative of the value, sincerity, and accuracy of the engaged activism. It reflects the magnitude of resistance, which includes ‘environmental” groups beholden to clean energy investment.

We could have been a decade or two ahead in pivoting to safer choices. Potential course corrections abound. It’s never too late to do the right thing, which includes looking truthfully at the impacts on the living environment, and people.

Thank you for your continuing interest.

Postscript: Paul’s healing journey eventually brought him to the question of the role of oxalates in his diet, as discussed in the book Toxic Superfoods, by Sally Norton. He, along with his wife, a physician, advocate that everyone re-evaluate their relationship with Kale, in addition to RF.

Note: This article is an updated version of an article from a series that was published by Natural Blaze for Father’s Day in 2021, featuring many men, some deceased, who have advocated for human rights, scientific integrity, and common sense. You can read the 2021 series in its entirety HERE.

Documentary: "Resonance: Beings of Frequency"

Watch the beautiful, evocative 2013 documentary film Resonance, Beings of Frequency (1 1/2 hours), which references all wireless technologies, (including cell phones. Please do not allow this to impair your ability to think about the issues. This dynamic was weaponized against the public to cultivate the consumer blindness that has prevailed towards the meters, which are not cellphones. Stay the course.)

This spectacular documentary uncovers for the very first time, the actual mechanisms by which mobile phone technology can cause cancer. And, how every single one of us is reacting to the biggest change in environment this planet has ever seen. Two billion years ago life first arrived on this planet; a planet, which was filled with a natural frequency. As life slowly evolved, it did so surrounded by this frequency. and Inevitably, it began tuning in. By the time mankind arrived on earth an incredible relationship had been struck; a relationship that science is just beginning to comprehend. Research is showing that being exposed to this frequency is absolutely integral to us. It controls our mental and physical health, it synchronizes our circadian rhythms, and it aids our immune system and improves our sense of wellbeing. Not only are we surrounded by natural frequencies, our bodies are filled with them too. Our cells communicate using electro magnetic frequencies. Our brain emits a constant stream of frequencies and our DNA delivers instructions, using frequency waves. Without them we couldn't exist for more than a second. This delicate balance has taken billions of years to perfect. But over the last 25 years the harmony has been disturbed. and disturbed dramatically. Mankind has submerged itself in an ocean of artificial frequencies. They are all around us, filling the air and drowning out the earth's natural resonance. To the naked eye the planet appears to be the same. But at a cellular level it is the biggest change that life on earth has endured; the affects of which we are just starting to see and feel.