Smart meters

Thank you for the opportunity to tell my personal story about how I'm affected by RF radiation. I’m 69, a white female, & have been chemically sensitive for 40 years. I started noticing electro-magnetic sensitivity 10-15 years ago. I keep my cell phone in Airplane Mode. We turned off the Wi-Fi in our home & hard-wired my computer. I wear RF-shielding gloves while working on the PC to protect my fingertips from burning. On July 9, 2018, the Pacific Power Company came to our home to install an electrical Smart Meter. Minutes later, I was standing in my kitchen & the new Smart Meter was 6 feet away on the other side of the house wall. My heart started fluttering but I shrugged it off. Suddenly, my heart JUMPED around in my chest radically. I ran out of the house. My husband called Pacific Power, asking them to remove the new meter but they said the employee who had just installed it & was still in the neighborhood wasn’t qualified to uninstall it. We waited 3 days for the electric company to come. I was still healing from a double mastectomy & my health felt fragile. Finally, my husband removed the Smart Meter himself, replacing it with an analog meter he had access to. My heart continued fluttering for a week afterwards & my doctor sent me to the ER. No permanent damage to my heart was found. The ER doctor suggested I was having panic attacks but I knew better. A few weeks later, the electric company finally got back to us &, discovering the Smart Meter had been removed, were livid. We were threatened & fined. When we refused to allow them to remove & replace the analog meter, they cut off the electricity to our home. The food in our freezer had begun to thaw by the time we realized our electricity was out. Feeling very coerced, we agreed to let Pacific Power install what they assured us was a “Non-RF-emitting” meter. They had sworn the Smart Meter was safe, too, but we seemed to have little choice. We felt very bullied. In addition to a fine, we had to pay $139 to officially uninstall the Smart Meter & switch to a non-RF-emitting meter. Since that time, we’ve also paid a monthly fee that customers with a Smart Meter do not have to pay. The non-RF-emitting meter hasn’t caused me any further problems with cardiac arrhythmia. How is it that we have to pay extra money to keep a life-threatening device off the wall of our home? I hope someday to be legally validated & reimbursed by the Pacific Power company for the trauma, pain & suffering they've caused me. I’ve also had problems with RF sensitivity at church since Smart Meters were installed. The metal fillings in my teeth seem to attract RF & exposure makes my jaw ache. I get a sharp headache at my temples & brain fog from too much RF. I’ve stopped wearing metal, especially near my head & heart. I’ve purchased faraday cages for two of the Smart Meters at church so I can socialize & attend baptisms. The effect of too much RF exposure is delayed & hard to notice until I lie down in quietness & feel my limbs buzzing. The buzzing is subtle while I’m busy. I start groaning & feeling cranky. When I finally lie down to rest, the buzzing becomes very apparent & uncomfortable. It takes hours to resolve. A new cell tower was proposed this summer to be built next to my church of 43 years. I spoke to our county’s planning commission in opposition to the new tower. I was shocked to learn that federal law prohibits the planning commission from considering any health objections to the approval of a new cell tower… WHAT?!! Health concerns are the most critical reason not to build a cell tower near schools, hospitals, churches, & in residential areas. I hope that law is repealed ASAP. By God’s grace, the new next-door cell tower was not approved. For folks with electro-magnetic sensitivity like me, “progress” in this modern world is scary. How long will we be able to find safe places to live? My heart goes out to people who are being irradiated by RF & don’t feel the adverse effects so that they act to protect themselves. I trust it’s just a matter of time before those in power decide to prioritize public health over technological growth & profit. I’ve been able to build a relatively safe environment for myself here at home. In a healthy environment, I feel strong & sassy. I can tolerate excursions into town for appointments & groceries. Sometimes, though, after a long day of exposures to chemicals & RF radiation, I become so drowsy that driving is dangerous. The after-effects of heavy exposure cause me to almost pass out. I usually recover from these exposures by falling into bed & sleeping it off but I have to get home safely first. What a waste of human energy, focus, & productivity these environmental toxins are causing. I’m delighted you’re taking a serious look at these things & how they’re affecting people, animals, & plants. Thank you for listening & good luck!

This is personal and family related as well as science too. The Environmental Working Group has also put out a report on RF/EMF. EMF cause my ears to ring. If I walk closer to a router the sound gets louder and if I walk away it will decrease or go away if I am far enough away for long enough. They also give me sinus infections. If I sleep with EMF's I have sinus infections and if I tent in the woods away from EMF they go away. I have repeated this process several times. When they put a smart meter on our house my kids started having ticks a lot, serveral times a minute and when we called and opted out of the smart meter the ticks stopped. I had tight muscles when they installed the smart meter but that went away after they changed the meter. We did not repeat this process. I have also seen family members kids and babies that had OCD much worse with RF/EMF. When it was removed or reduced it got a lot better. I believe that mast cell activation from the RF/EMF could be one of the reason for this issue. As Far as solutions I would like to see building regulations changed so no plug-ins have to be installed in bedroom and Cell tower are placed at least half a mile from homes, churches, and schools. The EU estimates that 2 to 3 percent of people have EHS (electromagnetic hypersensitivity syndrome). They have limits and the right to have your work checked and for the employer to reduce exposer. RF/EMF cages and bags can be used in rooms and offices without stopping wifi but reducing how much RF/EMF a person gets. Public spaces should not have high levels of RF/EMF because you are limiting the public that is sensitive to those spaces. Opt-out should be a mandated by law. I am wanting to move to a new town but they have no opt-out. How are my kids going to live in a house with no opt-out? Also opt-out should not carry a extra fee as we had no smart meters for decades and had no extra fee so this seems like you are punishing those who are sensitive to this when they had no control over it. DOI: 10.1080/09553000500303518 DOI: 10.1556/ABiol.56.2005.1-2.5 DOI: 10.1002/bem.22219 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.113851

EMFs have given me issues many different times, long before I made the connection that that is what was causing my symptoms. I will give you a few examples. A couple of years ago we had a dog and bought a shock collar for her. My husband installed the device that sends out the perimeter signal in our laundry room, which happens to be on the other side of the wall from the head of our bed. I woke up with the worst headache the next day that persisted all day long. Nothing would relieve it. The next day was even worse. Then it occurred to us that the device may be the problem, so he unplugged it. Gradually the headaches subsided, but it was the most intense and unusual headache I have ever had! We never ended up using the shock collars because it was clear that the product and its frequencies were unsafe. I also have difficulty flying on airplanes. It gives me terrible restless leg syndrome that goes away as soon as we are on the ground again. This was not an issue for me before Wi-Fi became available. I used to work a job that required me to wear a radio with an earpiece. A headache developed all day long and work its way down in my shoulders and the upper half of my back. I would go home in misery every day. I saw a chiropractor often and got adjustments, but the pain would always come right back. And then I made the connection! After I stopped wearing the device, no more pain and stiffness. I can also no longer go out to the movies without having concussion-like symptoms afterward from the EMF exposure… for weeks! Not everyone is as sensitive as I am— AND not everyone has made the connection that their symptoms may be related to EMF— but this is a daily issue for someone like me and it is ever-increasing as the world depends on more devices and generates more frequencies from those devices. I am terrified that the power company will come out and install a smart meter on my house without my knowledge. Then how would I live in my home? If a cell tower was installed closer to my home -what recourse would I have? I would literally have no way to avoid feeling awful all the time and there are no laws in place to help someone like me. Please take our safety seriously. I’m referencing real-time symptoms, but there are long-term effects to these things too, and if not enough study is done then we are all guinea pigs. We have failed to do the research! And now people are paying the price.

I am still of sound mind and body. I am writing for the purpose of the survival of the human race and secondly due to HHS’s Request for Information on Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs), Radiofrequency (RF) Radiation, and Wireless Radiation Exposure. I have been fighting what seems a non-stop war against dirty electricity, high frequencies, low frequencies, and beamforming technology that has been forced on me and my house against my will since 2010. The frequencies, I have come to find out are, unsafely and without discrimination, commonly used to employ gas and electric smart meters, rural companies' PLC (broadband over powerlines), neighbors' wi-fi and cell phones. My health-conscious family and I lived by high voltage power lines until my daughter's hair began to fall out in bunches, but we had choice to move from the power lines. In 2010, the gas and electric smart meter was forced upon our rural house without my consent or knowledge. The first night the gas smart meter was installed was the first night of 15+ years that my family and I experienced symptoms relating to high frequency EMF: insomnia, heart palpitations, headaches that bore into the eyes, nausea, inability to concentrate, and a new thing called tinnitus. Being in my house at night felt like being caged and whipped at the same time, with no place to hide, no place for relief. I tried sleeping in the garage, sitting up, was told it was my blood pressure, that it was my imagination, so many things, but the only thing that solved the issue was to get away from the smart meter, and guess what: THERE IS NOTHING I CAN DO ABOUT WHAT THE GOVERNMENT TELLS ME THAT I HAVE TO TAKE, and this was one of them. Emotionally, psychologically, mentally STRIPPED. Years and years of being forced to live with the smart meter on my home that the utility companies have been told are safe as a baby's bottle. The nervous system in my body cannot tolerate being close to a cell phone tower. I have friends who are dying because their nervous system has been incapacitated by the 5G around them. And STILL, the U.S. continues to bring children to school in the face of Wi-fi, hand out cellphones to the elderly, erect cell phone towers in neighborhoods where we sleep and next to hospitals and schools. No place is safe, but WHY are we being told that they are safe? We not only need protection, but we need truth; our children and our next generation deserve it. The government should be demanding truth for the sake of its citizens. In addition, I am attaching a MUST-READ written compelling testimony from Victor Nixon, a computer systems engineer and army veteran, who wrote years ago that the power lines were in fact emitting microwave radio frequency (RF) energy at a level orders of magnitude above the maximum FCC regulated limit for an antenna of 4W/cm2 (W=Watt) at a distance of 1 meter in air...high-voltage electricity transmission overhead cables at astonishingly high energy levels and this energy is radiating away from the lines; i.e. leaking heavily, wherever there is a chip, ding, or joint." The Smart Grid system is a labyrinth of signal strength in which one elusive issue problematic to human beings is that some can “hear” the emissions due to a scientifically-proven phenomenon known as the Microwave Auditory Effect...an engineering/physics fact." People have been told that they have tinnitus, when in fact if you turn off this signal through the overhead cables and transmitting antenna, tinnitus disappears. I say that the damaging effect of RF, heard or not, must be taken into account and should not be forced upon us. Read the article, please.

Yes! It absolutely has made me ill. Since smart meters, cable lines, etc have been installed on or very close to my property, I experience A-Fib/heart palpitations, shortness of breath, headaches, brain fog, exhaustion, poor concentration, difficulty focusing, nausea, etc.

There have been many studies done on the harmful effects to the health of all organic life from 5G radiation and EMFs. Almost everyone i know complains of symptoms from this. Headaches, Sleep Disturbances, Agitation. Many people have devices in their homes to measure the output of wifi and it goes way beyond any healthy range. And that is why millions if not billions of people buy devices and technology to counteract this harm. Even having protection, no one can escape the harm all of the time, especially now that most homes have smart meters on top of everything else. Look at the data. Organic life thieves in nature and pulls and exhausts while being wrapped in these toxic frequencies. We all should care about the world we live in and all life upon it. Children in schools should be getting cancer at the rates they are now. Some schools have removed the cell towers for this reason. Please protect our right to good health!

I have been sensitive to EMFs since the 5G towers and smart meters began being installed.. My symptoms are: head pressure, brain zaps, brain feeling scrambled, muscle cramps, anxiety, trouble breathing and numbness and tingling. I actually feel like I have electricity running through my body and I hear electricity in my ears. When I get in low EMF areas (which are now hard to find) my symptoms go away. I can’t drive through major cities as there is tower after tower. I also have trouble on the highways with tons of cars being hybrid and electric. The vibrations of electric cars also bother me. Perhaps EMFs should be studied more heavily in these types of cars. Also, I got rid of my iwatch due to the EMFs being uncomfortable and only use a cell phone if necessary. Please look into radiation from electronics and the safety of them. When I test using my Safe and Sound meter scores are off the charts. Allowing the production of all of these devices has made life horrific for many of us. We are all trying to flee from all of it. Unfortunately, now they are putting data centers up everywhere (and no one really knows what those are for) making it impossible to live rurally either. It is known per Dr. Klinghardt and others that EMFs increase mold toxicity. So many I know are suffering from that as well. I have developed chemical sensitivity due to mold and EMFs. And those nasty laundry detergents that people use. I would like a life where I don’t feel like I am constantly getting fried with harmful rays. So grateful that you are looking into this.

1) The Invisible Rainbow: A History of Electricity and Life by Arthur Firstenberg 2) Dirty Electricity. Electrification and the diseases of civilization by Samuel Milham, MD MPH. March 2010 Look up the terminology and warnings for LapTop. Was it designed for the lap? Or maybe it was just a cute name but really needed a wooden table top between the instrument and the body. How common is genital cancer from extensive (daily) use of computer work slates. What does the data say about genital cancer before the common era of computers for the lap? Another area of exposure is the smart meter. Has thought ever been given to what is on the other side of the wall that supports the utility meter? Would there be any concern if an infant's crib was adjacent to the meter? A homeowner could have their study directly inside with no barrier from the smart meter installation other than window glass, dry wall, framing. and sheetrock. A human being is on the other side of the wall sitting at his desk working daily for hours on his concerns. The smart meter was not on his radar. But we all have heard the drill...correlation is not causation.

I am writing regarding the FCC’s response to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals’ remand concerning its decades-old radiofrequency (RF) radiation exposure guidelines. The Court directed the FCC to provide a reasoned explanation for its determination that its guidelines adequately protect humans against harmful effects of RF radiation unrelated to cancer. Specifically, the court required the FCC to address the impacts of RF radiation on children, the health implications of long-term exposure, the ubiquity of wireless devices and technological developments, impacts on the environment, and the adequacy of the FCC’s testing procedures for cell phones and other portable devices. The FCC should fully consider evidence and real-world experiences concerning the health and environmental impacts of wireless radiation, including non-cancer health effects, impacts on children, long-term and cumulative exposure, cancer, and impacts on wildlife and the environment. The FCC is not a health agency and does not have expertise in medicine, biology or public health. Yet, the agency continues to assert authority over RF exposure standards and is preparing to reach conclusions about whether its existing guidelines adequately protect the public. I urge the FCC to recognize the critical role of federal health agencies, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and to rely on appropriate health and biological expertise when addressing the issues identified by the court. This issue matters to me personally because: I am one of the approximately 20%+ people who can hear Rf radiation being put out by cell phones, cell towers, Wi-Fi, smart meters, 5G, etc. Both the US Navy and Army have verified the fact that people can actually hear the buzzing of Rf radiation. My neighbor is a disabled Navy veteran due to his exposure to Rf radiation so this is NO MINOR issue. The buzzing of Rf radiation is not a benign sound. Rather it is a discordant sound in much the same way as nails crossing over a blackboard would be. However, each source, i.e. smart meters, cell towers, 5g, etc. all produce a different frequency and hence, a different discordant sounds. This sound is not only painful, but incredibly annoying and is present 24 hours per day. You need to consider that 20%+ of the population is being physically harassed by this discordant sound every single minute of every day. This is a significant part of the population. Because Rf radiation is being expanded all of the time, the pain and annoying sounds are only multiplied in intensity every day. It is not something I can escape as Rf radiation is everywhere. It causes me headaches, incredible piercing pain when smart meters link up, and interrupts my sleep every night. Rf radiation like all radiation is cumulative. Studies in Europe have shown that the closer to Rf radiation producers, they more prevalent the cases of cancer. Rf radiation has been proven to disrupt bees (which are responsible to pollinating the majority of our food) and birds. It has been proven to be dangerous to children, in vitro, the handicapped, and the elderly and is likely to lead to sterility in future generations. The FCC needs to give meaningful consideration to the experiences and evidence of the 20% of the population seriously harmed by Rf radiation before it and must fully address each of the issues identified by the court.

I appreciate that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued a request for input from the public on the health impacts of RF radiation. Here is some of my personal experience: I have been made very sick by RF radiation exposure. My doctor has diagnosed me with electromagnetic hypersensitivity. Massive, overwhelming numbers of scientific studies have shown microwave radiation creates adverse health effects. The most extreme experience I had was when I suffered severe health symptoms from RF exposure after a smart meter was placed on my residence. I have been in a legal case since 2018 about this. Here is the story: A smart meter was put on my residence by my gas company without my knowledge. I began to experience severe symptoms, which I reported to my physician, who had treated me for over 23 consecutive years. The doctor kept medical records of all my new symptoms: ― Insomnia and fatigue. ― Joint swelling in both hands, with decreased mobility, joint pain, joint stiffness, aches, stinging, and pinching. “I’d never had anything like this in my life,” I said. ― Frequent irregular heartbeats / palpitations. ― Neurologic symptom of dizziness. ― Cognitive dissonance, or “brain fog.” ― Gastro-intestinal symptoms of constipation and abnormal stools. The doctor ordered extensive testing to determine the cause of these symptoms, including: ― Echocardiogram and holter monitor test, to determine the cause of the heart palpitations. ― An appointment with a sleep specialist to consider sleep apnea, to investigate the cause of the insomnia. ― Thyroid test and anti-inflammatory or autoimmune workup, to further investigate the insomnia, as well as the hand pain. I was away teaching in Europe for five weeks, during which time I was symptom-free. When I returned home, my symptoms resumed. I asked the gas company if they would remove the meter. They said they would if my physician sent them a letter. The physician sent a Letter of Medical Necessity and the gas company removed the smart meter. Most of my symptoms subsided as soon as the smart meter was removed. The joint pain and insomnia subsided several weeks later. My doctor diagnosed me with EMF sensitivity and recommended that I avoid exposure to EMFs and RF. I took steps to eliminate almost all exposure at my residence: ― The house does not have wifi or any wireless devices. ― The computer does not have wifi; it is hard-wired, and also has an external, wired keyboard and a wired mouse. ― A no-EMF earphone is used with the computer. ― The desk chair is positioned at least 30 inches away from the laptop screen, at which distance EMFs drop to zero. ― Rather than a cellular phone, a landline is used. ― There is no television. ― There is no microwave oven. ― A low-EMF hair dryer is used. ― Lamps are unplugged when not in use. ― Before purchasing any electrical item, I test the item using a gaussmeter and radiofrequency radiation (RF) meter, to measure radiation. In addition, I suffer effects of RF exposure in airports. My physician wrote a letter excusing me from going through security scanners because body scanners use radiofrequency waves.