‘Smart’ Utility Meters Causing Sleep Trouble, Headaches, Heart Problems

Smart meters—utility meters that use radio frequencies (RF) to report data to utility offices for billing and other purposes—may be harmful to your health.

Just ask Joe Esposito, on whose home the Public Service Company of Oklahoma slapped a smart meter despite his explicit wishes it not be installed. Shortly after installation, Esposito began to experience tooth aches, constant tingling, and aches in his leg that kept him from sleeping.

After watching a video by Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt called “Smart Meters & EMR: The Heath Crisis of Our Time,” Esposito put up lead sheeting around the meter. He began immediately to sleep well, to feel no pain in his leg, and relief from his other symptoms. He even experimented on himself by removing the lead once in a while, noting that the pains and sleeplessness returned upon doing so.

Esposito is not alone in this experience; a survey by Dr. Ed Halteman, PhD, found that the many of the 318 residents of a surveyed area with smart meters installed in their homes experienced:

• Sleep problems (49 percent surveyed)
• Stress (43 percent)
• Headaches (40 percent)
• Ringing in the ears (38 percent)
• Heart problems (26 percent)

Admittedly, symptoms like stress and sleep problems come from many factors. Halteman noted, however, that sleep problems doubled after smart meter installation.

Industry Bias is Showing

It’s no surprise that the study by the industry group, the Electric Power Research Institute, found smart meter radio frequency emission levels well within federal safety guidelines. Even the Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) study found emission levels to be in “full compliance with Federal Communications Commission regulations by a very wide margin.” Their bias—like anyone else’s—is patent.

Many other studies back up Halteman’s findings, however. The American Academy of Environmental Medicine’s report, “Electromagnetic and Radiofrequency Fields Effect on Human Health” warns of medical conditions that may make some people more susceptible to RF and EMF. The AAEM also requested “an immediate and complete moratorium on [the Public Utilities Commission of California’s smart meter] use.”

They add that existing FCC guidelines for RF safety used by the PG&E  and Electric Power Research Institute studies “only look at thermal tissue damage and are obsolete, since many modern studies show metabolic and genomic damage from RF and ELF (Extremely Low Frequency) exposures below the level of intensity which heats tissues.”

Radiation Unsafe at Any Dose

In 2011, the World Health Organization stated that cell phone radiation may have a carcinogenic effect, and a Swedish study has found that 10 years of cell phone use leads to an average of 290% raised risk of brain tumor development. The Wi-Fi emitted from laptops is also a point of contention, which is why we advise against its use directly on the lap.

Radiation is unsafe at any dose, and it would be little more than arrogance to think that our careless leaps and bounds into greater technology could not come without (potentially) ugly consequences.