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Utilities on Long Island are actively replacing analog utility meters with wireless versions (known as "smart meters" ) that monitor your use of electricity, gas and water, and report directly to the utility companies.
There are many different types of electronic meters, all utilizing strong bursts of radiofrequency (RF) radiation to transmit data to collection sites. How often they transmit, and how much radiation they emit, depends on the type of meter and its internal programming. Smart meters have not been proven safe. Children, pregnant women and people with implanted medical devices are particularly vulnerable to the health impacts of exposure to RF radiation, especially the type of short-burst, high-level signals transmitted by smart meters. The FCC's current standards for RF radiation exposure were adopted back in 1996, long before these devices were invented. Averaging exposures over time may allow smart meter manufacturers to comply with FCC exposure limits, but this practice assumes that periodic high-level exposures are not harmful. To our knowledge, there is no scientific basis for this claim, and many individuals have reported that their electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) was triggered by the installation of a smart utility meter. "Multiple studies correlate RF exposure with diseases such as cancer, neurological disease, reproductive disorders, immune dysfunction, and electromagnetic hypersensitivity. " - Report of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine Smart meters go by many names: AMR, ERT, “non-transmitting digital,” AMI, “one-way digital” and “two-way digital.” All of these devices emit pulsed radiation. The only proven safe utility meter is a mechanical analog meter. Both National Grid and PSEG offer opt-out programs for their customers. Some local water companies on Long Island also offer opt-out programs, but others do not. If your water company does not offer an opt-out, we recommend you send a letter anyway, requesting to be excluded from the smart meter installation program. Click here to read the report from the American Academy of Environmental Medicine about Radiofrequency Radiation and Human Health. |
So-called "smart meters" can emit high levels of pulsed RF radiation, classified by the World Health Organization as a Class 2B carcinogen.
For reports and scientific studies on smart meters, please visit the website of Electromagnetic Radiation Safety
Listen to our podcast about smart meters with wireless expert Deborah Kopald
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