SAY NO TO SMART METERS
Would you put a mobile phone mast in your house?
In just 2 months, 2,000 complaints were made about Smart meters in California.
What is a Smart Meter?
Smart meters monitor, measure (and in future, control) and communicate customers’ private electricity, gas and water usage data to utility providers. They operate in a wireless mesh network with your neighbours’ Smart Meters and transmit intense bursts of RF EMF frequencies of non-ionising, microwave radiation 24 hours a day. The radiation is the same kind emitted from masts. The promise is a greener environment and cost savings – the reality is the opposite. Large numbers have reported privacy violations, safety and security dangers, environmental damage and much higher bills. In Canada, 80% of bills have gone up following installation, often over 50% higher than previously. The same has been reported in the U.S. In the UK, the government has said that it will cost the taxpayer £11 billion to roll out, to save an estimated £25 per household per year – and that only possible if you have two Smart Meters and reduce consumption.
You have the right to refuse a Smart Meter.
EMFs and Health
More than 5,000 studies show RF EMF radiation is harmful to humans, plants and animals. EMFs are linked to:
| Insomnia | Headaches | Palpitations | Seizures |
| Allergies | Agitation | Nausea | Vomiting |
| Tinnitus | Dizziness | Brain Fog | Poor Memory |
| Depression | Poor Concentration | Learning Difficulties | Anxiety |
| Brain Tumours | Leukaemia | Cancer | Heart Attacks |
European surveys have shown that at least one in 20 people are moderately to severely sensitive to RF EMF radiation. Human, animal and cell culture indicate long-term, systemic health effects from radiation, including hormone disruption, DNA damage, leakage of blood brain barrier, sperm count reduction and damage, sleep disorders, learning difficulties, ADHD, dementia and cancer. There is concern that pregnant women and children are particularly vulnerable.
In March 2012, Dr Andrew Goldsworth’s research warned that Water Smart Meters can severely reduce water quality, leading to increased toxicity of poisons present in the body. This is particularly concerning for areas like London – electromagnetically-conditioned water can strip lead from pipes causing lead toxicity amongst the population.
06 May 2011
Council of Europe Report “Potential dangers of EMFs and their effect on the environment” called for immediate reduction in exposure to EMFs by children. They advocate “precautionary principle” be applied to wireless emission to prevent public health disaster akin to tobacco, leaded petrol (although it’s still in aircraft fuel), asbestos, etc.
31 May 2011
World Health Organisation categorises Radio-Frequency EMFs as a Class 2B possible carcinogen – the same as lead, chloroform and mercury.
Dr David Carpenter, Director of the Institute of Health and Environment, University of Albany, New York, ex-head of the New York Department of Public Health said; “We have evidence that exposure to RF radiation…increases the risk of cancer, increases damage to the nervous system, causes electro-sensitivity, has adverse reproductive effects and a variety of other effects on different organ systems. There is NO justification for the statement that ‘Smart’ Meters have no adverse health effects”.
Senior Nuclear Policy Lecturer at UCSC, Daniel Hirsch says: ‘Smart Meters can expose the body to 160x to 800x as much microwave radiation as mobile phones. Smart Meters can emit intense pulses of radiation more than 14,000 times EACH DAY.’
The American Academy of Environmental Medicine has called for the complete removal of ‘Smart’ Meters and a return to safe analogue…due to scientific and medical studies repeatedly showing health risks from exposure to microwaves emitted from wireless devices.”
The ICNIRP safety standards which the UK government and HPA continue to use fail to recognise the non-thermal, biological effects of microwaves radiation. These standards were voted OBSOLETE by the European Parliament, 506 votes to 22.
Security Concerns
With a Smart Meter, wireless transmissions of personal data, with information about the devices you use, when you use them and what you are doing with them at any given moment, would be available to energy companies and any potential hackers. In a wireless ‘Smart Grid’, your entire home would become a NODE on the Internet. That means your home and device usage would suddenly become available to hackers, who could use the data when certain people are at home – i.e., children – or to know when you are away. In the U.S., this information has already been sold to third parties. Smart Meters are invasive surveillance equipment within your home.
Smart Meters would also make it possible for hackers to disconnect your water and electricity supply remotely. James Woolsey, ex-CIA Director on EnergyNow, March 2012 said: “(Smart Grid) is a really, really stupid idea” with attacks on the energy grid “entirely possible”.
Smart Meters have exploded and caused fires and can interfere with electrical devices such as pacemakers.
Smart Meters and the Environment
Scientists are refuting claims that Smart Meters are green. In reality, they harm nature and the environment. Hundreds of studies have shown significant impact on wildlife from sustained EMF radiation including stress reactions and genetic problems in plants, trees, animals and insects, problems in migratory animals like birds and bees, birth defects in calves and fertility problems in herds. Source: Council of Europe Report, May 2011. Tree deaths, plant die-offs and bee colony collapses have been reported shortly after Smart Meter installation.
What you can do
- Refuse installation of a Smart Meter in your home
- If you already have one, ask your utility provider to remove it. You may face opposition but they cannot breach your withdrawal of consent.
- Write to your utility provider this week stating your denial of consent for Smart Meter installation.
- Download sample letter from StopSmartMeters.org.uk
- Join the public opt-out statement StopSmartMeters.org.uk
Print out (www.StopSmartMeters.org.uk) a Do Not Install Smart Meter sign and put it on your meter box.
You can buy inexpensive energy monitors online if you want to monitor your energy usage
Share this info with neighbours, friends and family – post leaflets, hold meetings, post online
Create a “Smart Meter free neighbourhood”.
Write to your MP and other public figures stating your opposition to Smart Meters.
Watch the film or organise a screening of the film Take Back Your Power (www.ThePowerFilm.org)
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