Since the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research, said they would take unlimited comments (until December 12, 2016), I submitted the following written comment after giving my oral comment (here).
The evidence of harm is rather overwhelming.
I pray that 2017 is the year Analog Utility Meter Choice legislation is passed in Michigan, and anywhere else citizens are asking for a choice.
~
Ladies and Gentlemen,
This is in addition to my first comment, submitted at the December 5, 2016 call-in Listening Session.
Please invoke the precautionary principle in regards to the proliferation of wireless technology: Precautionary principle - Wikipedia
"The precautionary principle (or precautionary approach) to risk management states that if an action or policy has a suspected risk of causing harm to the public, or to the environment, in the absence of scientific consensus (that the action or policy is not harmful), the burden of proof that it is not harmful falls on those taking an action that may or may not be a risk."
Harm from wireless and electronic technology is becoming epidemic, as you witnessed on the December 5, 2016 Listening Session call, when 83% of the comments were about this very topic.
We Are The Evidence: Home
The numbers of people adversely affected by wireless and electronic technology continues to grow. There are at least ten electromagnetic-hypersensitivity (EHS) "support groups" on social media (Facebook), populated by people like me, who have become sensitive to, and functionally impaired by, wireless and/or electronic technology. Many of us became so severely ill that we questioned whether life is worth living. Some of us take refuge and sleep in our cars, or in the woods, away from wireless and electronic technology.
At least one young woman has already taken her life after WiFi was installed in her school: Parents of schoolgirl Jenny Fry are campaigning to have WiFi restricted in schools following her death
The "International EMF Scientist Appeal" to His Excellency Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, has been signed by 223 professionals from 43 different nations. These scientists have collectively published over 2,000 peer-reviewed papers on the biological and health effects of non-thermal electromagnetic radiation, and are calling for "more protective EMF guidelines" in regards to wireless and electronic technology.
Dr. Martin Blank, from the Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics at Columbia University, says, "We are scientists and engineers, and I am here to tell you - we have created something that is harming us, and it is getting out of control! Putting it bluntly, they are damaging the living cells in our bodies and killing many of us prematurely.” EMFScientist.org
STUDY - Electromagnetic hypersensitivity - an increasing challenge to the medical profession: Some people exposed to electromagnetic radiation, including the frequencies utilized by the new water meters, develop Electromagnetic hypersensitivity. While some cannot discriminate between an active radio frequency signal and placebo, others showed observable changes following exposure; reactions in the pupil, changes in heart rhythm, damage to red blood cells, and disturbed glucose metabolism in the brain: Electromagnetic hypersensitivity--an increasing challenge to the medical profession. - PubMed - NCBI
STUDY - Self-reporting of symptom development from exposure to radiofrequency fields of wireless smart meters in Victoria, Australia: a case series: Shows the most frequently reported symptoms to be insomnia, headaches, tinnitus, fatigue, cognitive disturbances, abnormal sensations, and dizziness, and pointed to the possibility that smart meters may have unique characteristics that lower people's threshold for symptom development: Self-reporting of symptom development from exposure to radiofrequency fields of wireless smart meters in victoria, australia: a case series. - PubMed - NCBI
Comments on the Draft Report by the California Council on Science & Technology “Health Impacts of Radio Frequency from Smart Meters,” by Daniel Hirsh, Nuclear Expert & Lecturer, University of California, Santa Cruz: Showing that smart meters produce between 50 & 160 times more cumulative whole body exposure than the cell phone: Health Impacts of Radio Frequency from Smart Meters
Adolescents in the U.S. today have grown up with cell phones, and now their number one form of cancer is brain tumors: Brain tumors now the most frequent form of cancer in U.S. adolescents
“In general, while the possibility of ‘non-thermal’ biological effects may exist, whether or not such effects might indicate a human health hazard is not presently known.” - That quote is from the FCC Bulletin Questions and Answers about Biological Effects and Potential Hazards of Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields: Questions and Answers About Biological Effects and Potential Hazards of Radio-frequency Electromagnetic Fields
“Not presently known,” means that they (the FCC) really doesn't know. We have been jumping off the dock into dark water without knowing what was underneath!
Campanelli & Associates, P.C., anti-cell-tower lawyers in New York State , pose the question on their web site: Isn’t the FCC protecting us? Their answer: “No. To the contrary, the FCC has employed, and continues to employ its power to assist the wireless industry…” Isn't the FCC Protecting Us?
FCC standards have been considered by some local government agencies as a "safety net" when in fact, they are not.
Microwave Electromagnetic Fields Act by Activating Voltage-Gated Calcium Channels: Why the Current International Safety Standards Do Not Predict Biological Hazard: Microwave Electromagnetic Fields Act by Activating Voltage-Gated Calcium Channels: Why the Current International Safety Standards Do Not Predict Biological Hazard
Report of Partial Findings from the National Toxicology Program Carcinogenesis Studies of Cell Phone Radiofrequency Radiation in Hsd: Sprague Dawley® SD rats (Whole Body Exposures): Report of Partial Findings from the National Toxicology Program
Reliable disease biomarkers characterizing and identifying electrohypersensitivity and multiple chemical sensitivity as two etiopathogenic aspects of a unique pathological disorder: Reliable disease biomarkers
The American Academy of Environmental Medicine's view of smart meter microwave radiation and how they OPPOSE smart meters being installed on homes: "Emissions given off by 'smart meters' have been classified by the World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as a Possible Human Carcinogen. Hence, we call for: (1) An immediate moratorium on 'smart meter' installation until these serious public health issues are resolved. Continuing with their installation would be extremely irresponsible. (2) Modify the revised proposed decision to include hearings on health impact in the second proceedings, along with cost evaluation and community wide opt-out. (3) Provide immediate relief to those requesting it and restore the analog meters."
The American Cancer Society's International Agency for Research on Cancer's view that cell phone radiation is "possibly carcinogenic," (and the radiation from a smart meter is compared to cell phones by the smart meter industry): IARC Classifies Radiofreqency Electromagnetic Fields as Possibly Carcinogenic to Humans
Wireless Radiation Danger to Babies and Children (video of The Babysafe Press Conference): Wireless Radiation Danger to Babies & Children
The BioInitiative Report: "...1800 or so new studies report abnormal gene transcription (Section 5); genotoxicity and single-and double-strand DNA damage (Section 6); stress proteins because of the fractal RF-antenna like nature of DNA (Section 7); chromatin condensation and loss of DNA repair capacity in human stem cells (Sections 6 and 15); reduction in free-radical scavengers – particularly melatonin (Sections 5, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17); neurotoxicity in humans and animals (Section 9), carcinogenicity in humans (Sections 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17); serious impacts on human and animal sperm morphology and function (Section 18); effects on offspring behavior (Section 18, 19 and 20); and effects on brain and cranial bone development in the offspring of animals that are exposed to cell phone radiation during pregnancy (Sections 5 and 18). This is only a snapshot of the evidence presented in the BioInitiative 2012 updated report." Conclusions from the BioInitiative Report 2012
The "Electrosensitive Society" gives a brief history of this "illness":
| The term “radio wave sickness” was first used by Russian doctors to describe an occupational illness developed by large numbers of workers exposed to microwave or radiofrequency radiation. The symptoms were called “neurasthenic.” “Neurasthenia” was an older term for this group of symptoms, which was coined by an American physician, George Beard, in 1868, to describe a new type of illness that followed the building of the railroads and the telegraph system in this country. |
| The illness was particularly common among telegraph, and later among telephone operators. The term “neurasthenia” fell out of fashion in the twentieth century in North America, when this cluster of symptoms, or a large number of them, began to be referred to as “anxiety” symptoms, presumably of purely psychological origin. Illness by radio waves has been rediscovered, and is now classed with illness caused by electricity in general, under the term “electrical sensitivity.” |
Joel M. Moskowitz, Ph.D., Director, Center for Family and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, writes about Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity here:
Microwave syndrome or electro-hypersensitivity - historical background: The microwave syndrome or electro-hypersensitivity: historical background. - PubMed - NCBI
Please invoke the precautionary principle in regards to wireless and electronic technology. Please help protect those of us who already feel the adverse health affects from wireless and electronic technology. Please help protect our children and future generations.
Most Sincerely,
Jeanine S. Deal
