Smart meters still generating health concerns: Fears take root in Santa Barbara, Ojai, Simi, T.O.
The electrical meter for Marleen Luckman's dwelling is sandwiched between two new smart meters, the kind that some Ojai residents are upset about.Luckman says she worries about a wireless world where electromagnetic radiation is everywhere.
Scientists and government-backed research challenge her conclusion. P. Lyn Middleton even questions her own assessments.
Still, the 63-year-old Ojai artist worries the reason she feels lethargic, scattered and unable to focus may be the five wireless electricity counters — "smart meters" — 20 feet from her house.
"I'm not a crazy person, but I do know that something different is happening to me," said Middleton, who plans to pay more than $75 to keep a utility from installing a smart meter near her home. She's willing to pay at least $450 more to convince the landlord of a neighboring apartment complex to remove the digital devices already installed and to keep more meters from being installed.
"It's worth my health to do that," she said. If the landlord wants the meters, she and her husband may move.
Southern California Edison is installing more than 300,000 digital meters across Ventura County, with more than half of them already in place.
An official said alleged health risks have been disproven and dealt with in media interviews, presentations in many cities and the emergence of an opt-out choice. Outside researchers who have studied smart meters say the devices meet safety requirements. They say exposure to radio frequency emissions from cellphones can be, at certain distances, hundreds of times more powerful, though opponents challenge their measurements.
"There is no evidence to suggest that smart meters are producing any level of electromagnetic fields that causes any health effects to anyone," said Emir Macari, a university engineering dean and part of a research team that tackled smart meters for the California Council on Science and Technology.
The meters, however, continue to trigger anxiety in many communities. Fears are germinating in Ojai like they have in Santa Barbara, Marin County, Burbank and hot spots across California and the nation.
'Being forced down our throats'
At the last two Ojai City Council meetings, nearly 40 people vented their concerns. They worry the meter's low-level radio frequency emissions may contribute to problems ranging from fatigue and headaches to autism and cancer.
They cite research claiming cellphones may over years contribute to brain cancer, although the National Cancer Institute asserts the link has not been proven. They point to work suggesting electromagnetic radiation may interfere with the way human cells interact with each other, causing more extreme problems for people believed to be hypersensitive to the emissions.
The angst, which spills into concerns that the meters can be used to gather data and invade privacy, has prompted Ojai city leaders to consider an ordinance attempting to block further installation of the meters. They've been told such a moratorium likely wouldn't work because the California Public Utilities Commission already has given its approval.
"I believe there is enough controversy with regards to their safety that it warrants us taking a hard look at it," said Councilman Paul Blatz. "I do believe it's being forced down our throats."
The digital meters are designed to allow consumers and utilities to better track and conserve energy. The state commission that regulates Edison and other utilities has approved an opt-out plan for people who don't want smart meters. But there's an initial fee of $75 and a monthly charge of $10.
The charges, despite demands for free opt-outs from many California communities, are necessary to cover manual meter reading and other activities needed to maintain the old analog meters, according to Edison.
"It's extortion," said Marleen Luckman, a biologist and Ojai planning commissioner. "I feel like they're bribing people to go with the smart meter."
Luckman worries about a wireless world where electromagnetic radiation is everywhere. She holds her cellphone 5 inches from her ear. She doesn't own a microwave. And she will opt out on her smart meter.
She said the level of electromagnetic radiation will increase in the future when utility companies connect the meters to smart appliances in a person's home or business.
"I think they haven't done the research, and they don't want to think about it," she said of Edison. "I wish I didn't have to think about it."
New technology
But there has been research, including double-blind studies, on smart meters, said Roger Levy, a Sacramento consultant with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, part of a research network supported by the U.S. Department of Energy. Levy's team has advised government bodies across the nation on smart meter research.
He said reported symptoms of headaches and fatigue can't be dismissed, but there's no evidence linking them to smart meters. The devices are a very small and insignificant contributor to radio frequency emissions that surround everyone.
"Unless you live in a salt mine deep underground in Utah somewhere, you are exposed," Levy said, contending the lack of proof means additional research shouldn't be a high priority.
High powers of radio frequency can raise body temperature and cause health problems, according to an April 2011 report by the California Council on Science and Technology, which conducts research for state government. But emissions from smart meters do not come remotely near danger levels, the report said.
Conducted for members of the state Assembly, the study also cites research suggesting emissions can affect energy emitted by human cells, possibly causing a wide range of illnesses. Researchers said it's impossible to identify all long-term effects of relatively new technology.
"It has been studied as much as possible and no one has been able to come up with a conclusion that a smart device or anything like that is the cause of the problem," said Macari, a dean at CSU Sacramento and director of the school's Smart Grid Center.
The great unknown
Opponents of smart meters question the objectivity of the research. They quote studies and papers focused on exposing the dangers of electromagnetic fields. An April position statement by the American Academy of Environmental Medicine expressed concern about the massive increase in wireless emissions.
"Multiple studies correlate (radio frequency) exposure with diseases such as cancer, neurological disease, reproductive disorders, immune dysfunction and electromagnetic hypersensitivity," the statement read.
If some people want meters, that's their choice, said Dr. Robin Bernhoft, an Ojai environmental medicine specialist and an academy member. He used graphite paint in his office to protect environmentally sensitive patients from a nearby cellphone tower. He already has opted out from smart meters.
"If people in Ojai and Santa Barbara are sophisticated enough to realize there's a real issue, then more power to them," he said.
More than 150,000 meters have been installed in Ventura County. In Simi Valley, 12 people have complained to the City Council about smart meters since November. In Thousand Oaks, a handful of people have targeted the meters at council meetings.
"As far as our office is concerned, I've only had one call," said Ann Simmons, an executive assistant to Ventura's city manager.
In Ojai, people appeared not only before the City Council but also called on the Ventura County Board of Supervisors to attempt a countywide ban. Smart meters have caused similar concerns in the Bay Area town of Fairfax, where the issue has its own page on the town's website.
Jerrold Bushberg is a physicist at UC Davis and senior vice president for the National Council on Radiation Protection & Measurements. He said little evidence exists validating dangers of smart meters but said people may be swayed by references to radiation, cancer and an opt-out choice that comes with a price tag.
"I think the issue is any time when you are mandating something to happen, especially when it's attached to a person's home, there's going to be a certain faction that doesn't want to be told this is going to happen, and there's nothing you can do about it," he said.
Middleton, who worries about the five meters near her house, thinks concerns proliferate in communities where people gather information not just from one source but many. Her worries are seeded by the lack of definitive answers.
"They say there's no scientific evidence that they're harmful," she said. "There's no evidence saying they aren't harmful."
Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/may/05/smart_meters_ojai/#ixzz1uTTpTra1
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You should check Emir Macari, the expert for the California Council for Science & Technology.
ReplyDeleteIn the report cited, he falsified his prior experience. The evidence is here under the exhibits:
http://www.pgm8693.com/2012/04/mattiuzzi-slapped-back.html
If he can't be trusted with a resume, how can he be trusted with a scientific finding?