The RF invasion: Cell Phones, Smart Meters, Wi-Fi, …

By Richard Wolfson, Ph.D.

Research on RF

Hundreds of published scientific studies report the health damaging effects of RF (radio frequency) fields.

A Summary of symptoms of “Microwave Sickness” or “Radiowave Sickness” are listed on the next two slides.

Subjective Complaints of Persons Working in Rf Field: •Headaches •Eyestrain •Flow of Tears •Fatigue •Weakness •Disturbed Sleep •Moody •Frequently Irritated •Unsociable •Mental Depression •Deterioration of Intellectual Functions •Notable Memory Impairment •Sluggishness •Inability to make decisions •Loss of Hair •Muscle Pain •Pounding of Heart •Breathing Difficulties •Difficulty in sex life •Increased perspiration of extremities •Brittle fingernails •Decreased lactation in nursing mothers

Effect of Rf Fields on Other Organs: •Acceleration or retardation of breathing rate •Hemorrhaging and bleeding in internal organs •Decreased filtration in renal tubules •Increased activity of adrenal cortex •Hemorrhaging in the liver •Degeneration of hepatic cells •Enlargement of thyroid •Hyperthyroidism •Increase of radioactive iodine •Cancer •Cardiovascular disease •Damage to reproductive system

RF Fields in the EM Spectrum

Health Effects of Cell Phones 1 • Whenever a cell phone is on, it transmits

microwave signals back and forth to cell phone towers, even when the phone is not in use.

• Holding a cell phone to your ear is like putting a mini-microwave oven beside your head.

• Prior to 2008, research was inconclusive as, like smoking, effects build up over a long time. Cell phones had not been around long enough.

• But since 2008, long-term studies, including comprehensive meta-analysis, show that…

Health Effects of Cell Phones 2 • Heavy cell phone use for at least 10 years at least

doubles the incidence of brain cancer. • Individuals who begin using cell phones before age 20

(e.g. children) are more than five times as likely to develop malignant brain tumors on that side of the head.

• Consequently, in May 2011, the WHO classified cell phones as Class-2B carcinogens, along with chloroform, DDT, and leaded gas exhaust.

• Because of their thinner skulls and bones, children absorb 50% more radiation into their brain than adults. Therefore, children are particularly susceptible to radiation from cell phones.

• Cancer is only the first research in. Research on other effects of cell phones (including genetic damage) is in progress.

Contradictory Research? • In Aug 2011, a JNCI study reported regular cell

phone users were not more likely to develop brain tumors. But, here regular use was once a week for 6 months. Brain tumors increased 115% after 2.8 years and 275%+ after 4 years.

• In Oct 2011, a BMJ study concluded mobile phone use did not increase cancer. This research was highly flawed. E.g., researchers wrongly classified the 88 per cent of the Danish population who started using a mobile phone after 1996 as non-users.

Simple Solutions for Cell Phones

• Don’t hold it against your head! • When using a cell phone, doctors

recommend holding it away from the body, using a speaker phone, airtube, or a headset with a ferrite clip to prevent radiation from traveling to the head.

• Shielded carry cases, which shield the side of the phone against your body, are also coming on the market.

HOW CAN THIS LITTLE METER BE SUCH A

BIG PROBLEM?

SSmart Meters

Smart Meter Deployment As of Jan 2012, 9 million SMs were installed nationwide, with 90% in FL, TX, CA, ID, AZ, OK, MI, and NV. Forecasts: a billion SMs in the world by 2020, with 65 million in the US. http://blog.recovery.gov/2012/01/11/nine-million-smart-meters-installed-nationwide/ SMs are mandatory for utility customers in most states. Due to citizen resistance, California, Nevada, and Maine have adopted opt-out programs. Recently, SM opt-out bills have circulated through state legislatures in Georgia, Michigan, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Vermont. www.centerforsaferwireless.org By the end of 2013, Alliant Energy plans to install 1.1 million electric SMs and 400,000 gas SMs in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota. As of Jan 2012, Dubuque is the only city in Iowa with SMs.

SOURCE: Andres Carvallo, The Advanced Smart Grid

SMART METERS- THE PLAYERS$$$all looking for a piece of the action

Smart meters and associated smart technology currently represent a $3 billion annual industry, projected to rise to $15 billion annually by 2015.

What are Smart Meters • Smart meters use RF to transmit power, water,

and gas usage data back to utility companies. Smart meters also allow utility companies to selectively turn down our power at peak times.

• Smart meters in homes collect power usage of all appliances via the Home Area Network (HAN). HAN then transmits to the Neighborhood Area Network (NAN), which transmits via the Wide Area Network (WAN) back to the utility company.

• We have been adding layer upon layer of RF. How much can our body take?

HOME AREA NETWORK (HAN)

SOURCE: Slide from Tom Wilson, greenandhealthyhomes.net, who obtained the graphic from GE Demand Response Enabled Appliances/Home Energy Management System

In HAN, appliances transmit energy usage to Home Energy Manager Home Energy Manager transmits to Smart Meter Smart meter transmits to NAN and receives instructions back

NAN

SMART METERS

NEIGHBORHOOD AREA NETWORK (NAN)

z

SOURCE: Slide from Tom Wilson, greenandhealthyhomes.net

SMART METERS

Networks upon Networks of RF ADVANCED METERING INFRASTRUCTURE (AMI)

REFERENCE MODEL

NEIGHBORHOOD AREA

NETWORK (NAN)

HAN 1

HAN 2

HAN 3

HAN n

BACKHAUL NETWORK

AMI ENTERPRISE LAN

METRO NETWORK

SOURCE: Slide from Tom Wilson, greenandhealthyhomes.net, who obtained the graphic from Smart Grid Communications architectural Framework, Sonoma Innovation

• First-generation smart meters transmitted information back to utility companies monthly.

• Second generation transmitted daily or hourly. • Third generation can send information from

homes back to the utility company on demand. They can also turn down power in homes to prevent impending power outages.

• (see http://www.smartmeterdangers.org)

EVOLUTION OF SMART METERS

Layers of RF • Starting with radar in WWII, then AM and FM radio, TV,

cell phones and towers, WIFI, and now Smart Meters with multiple transmitters, and numerous transmitting devices in our homes.

• Single family Smart Meters can contain 1, 2, or 3 transmitters depending on their position in the networks. Units for multiple family dwellings can consist of a bank of several dozen meters, each with multiple transmitters. Living by a bank of meters constitutes a bigger health issue, especially for those electromagnetically sensitive.

• Then WAN networks transmitting data back to the utility company, and various other components of this complex operation. The total level of RF radiation in our environment will be a trillion times greater than it was 100 years ago. How much radiation can we take?

SMART METERS

SMART METER ANALOG METER

RESIDENTIAL SMART METER

COMMERCIAL SMART METER

ELECTIC POWER

WATER

GAS

SMART METER TYPES

MULTI FAMILY

DWELLING

SINGLE FAMILY

DWELLING

A device that measures & registers the integral of the electrical quantity with respect to time.

SMART METERS

902-928 MHz RF LAN

NAN MESH

850 or 1900 MHz CELULAR

WAN

2405-2483 MHz ZIGBEE

NAN MESH

TRANSMITTER OPTIONS

Smart Meters in our home will have one transmitter for trans-mitting within our HAN, and a second transmitter for relaying data along within the NAN. If our meter is at the end of the line, it will have a third trans-mitter sending info to the WAN. Up to two Transmitters can Simultaneously Transmit Total Exposure = Σ Transmitters = NAN + WAN + HAN

1

2 3

NAN

HAN

PUBLICISED SMART METER EXPOSURE LEVELS California Council on Science

and Technology (CCST)

Cumulative whole body exposure of

Smart Meters is two orders of magnitude

less than a cell phone.

SOURCE: California Council on Science and Technology, “Health Impacts of Radio Frequency from Smart Meters”, 31 January 2011

SOURCE: Daniel Hirsch, Comments on the Draft Report by the California Council on Science and Technology“Health Impacts of Radio Frequency from Smart Meters”, 31 January 2011

California Council on Science and Technology (CCST)

Cumulative whole body exposure of

Smart Meters is two orders of magnitude

higher than cell phones.

After correcting for duty cycle and dissimilar units…. After correcting for duty cycle andA

onond Technornia C

d T hCo

(C(Con

nology luncil o ce

CCST)CCST)Scienc

After correcting for duty cycle andA

ACTUAL SMART METER EXPOSURE LEVELS

SMART METER EXPOSURE LEVELS

“Second-hand” microwave geography in Salt Lake City, Utah, Paul M. Torrens, Geography, Arizona State University

“SECOND-HAND” RADIATION MAP IN SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH

SOURCE:

Smart Meter Deployments are Significantly Increasing Electrosmog

RF Spikes

• Smart meters send out beacon signals every minute or less, confirming they are working.

• These never-ending electromagnetic bursts are continually hammering RF spikes into the body.

• The cumulative effect of these signals is expected to be the largest health concern.

Center for Safer Wireless info • Pacific Gas and Electric smart meters send up to 190,000 messages

a day. • San Diego Gas and Electric meters transmit on average 1270 times

a day and up to 25,920 times each day • Dr. PK Namkung, M.D. Health Officer at the Santa Cruz Health

Services Agency cites RF research (Smart meter levels) showing: • increased permeability of the blood-brain barrier in the head

(Eberhardt 2008), • harmful effects on sperm, double strand breaks in DNA which could

lead to cancer genesis (Phillips, 2011), • stress gene activation indicating an exposure to a toxin (Blank,

2011), and • alterations in brain glucose metabolism (Volkow, 2011).” • Ref: http://www.centerforsaferwireless.org/Smart-Meters.php

REPORTED SYMPTOMS OF SMART METERS

• Severe headaches lasting several days, with chills, dizziness, memory problems

• Shrill high-pitched chronic ringing and pain in ears, leading to hearing loss

• Sleeplessness, skin cancer, nausea • Heart palpitations, stress attacks • Pets (e.g. dogs and cats) getting very sick • http://www.smartmeterdangers.org/index.p

hp/smartmeter-facts/186-sm-nightmares

SMART METER MITIGATION Smart Meter Opt-Out – Difficult, costly, (don’t forget radiation from neighbors)

Relocate Meter – Costly, (don’t forget radiation from neighbors)

Distance Shielding – Can be effective

Hardwire - NAN & HAN – Long term solution – Every home has copper pairs – Fiber optics is best

IBE 312 DISCUSSES RF MITIGATION IN DETAIL

SMART METER ISSUES

Privacy Concerns – A Smart Meter is a stethoscope into our home,

monitoring what we use and when – Intimate & detailed information about appliance use,

residency & profiled behavior patterns – Commoditization of usage data

Last industry not to sell information on its customers

– Utility company control of appliances Peak Load Management (I.e, turning our power down)

CONSUMPTION DATA PEAK = 7.18 kW MEAN = 0.49 kW DAILY LOAD FACTOR = 0.07 ENERGY CONSUPTION = 11.8 kWh

SMART METER ISSUES

Privacy Concerns

24 HOUR DAY

POW

ER, k

W

HEATER

STOVE

TOASTER

WASHING MACHINE

REFRIGERATOR

OVEN PREHEATING

OVEN CYCLING

HOT WATER HEATER STOVE

SOURCE: NIST

Wi-Fi and other RF Networks

• How much RF is too much? • It may take decades to exactly determine

the long-term effects of exposure to low level RF radiation.

• Just like smoking, it took many years to precisely document the effects.

• However, some research is already in.

Sperm Damage from Wi-Fi

• Fertility and Sterility (Jan, 2012) showed • after four hours of exposure to RF from

laptop Wi-Fi, sperm showed permanent DNA damage and reduced ability to move

• Distance was comparable to laptop: 3 cm • Conclude: Wi-Fi may reduce male fertility

European J Oncology 5: 273-298, 2010 • Subjects exposed to DECT base station at same 2.4 GHz • Double blind: Subjects and experimenters could not tell

when the device (40 cm from head) was turned on: • Subjects showed immediate and often dramatic increases

in heart rate and heart rate variability • For some subjects, heart rate doubled, e.g. from 68 to

128 BPM, as soon as device was turned on, causing arrhythmia and tachycardia (irregular and rapid heart rate)

• Radiation levels were 3μW /cm2, at non-thermal levels well below federal guidelines. (0.3% of Federal limit!)

• Conclusion: Heart problems can be from electro-hyper-sensitivity (to 2.4 GHz RF, freq of WiFi, DECT, MW oven)

• http://www.magdahavas.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Havas-HRV-Ramazzini.pdf

European J Oncology 5: 273-298, 2010 • Prior to 1997, 2% of population showed electro-

hyper-sensitivity (EHS) • By 2004, 10% report EHS, and growing. (How

much real EHS vs. increased awareness?) • (However, Smart Meters also showed EHS

quickly increased with exposure) • Subjects also showed increased sympathetic

activity, indicative of fight or flight, or stress response, when DECT transmitting

• Heart rates of even non-EHS subjects went up • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EI9fZX4iww

Lawsuit against Portland Schools

• Children are most susceptible to EMF and RF because of their developing physiologies.

• Witness Barrie Trower, a physicist from the Defense Department and expert in all aspects of microwave radiation technology testified:

• Wi-Fi frequencies and radiation levels broadcast in the school are similar to what Soviets beamed into U.S. embassies during cold war.

• Personnel experienced: headaches, fatigue, sleep disruption, inability to concentrate, and in the long-term, leukemia, brain tumors...

Testimony of David Carpenter, MD, Director, Institute for Health and the Environment, University at Albany, an expert in biological effects of RF:

• Chronic RF exposure (e.g. all-day Wi-Fi exposure) is more likely than short, intermittent exposure (as with cell phones) to produce harmful health effects, especially at lower exposure levels

• Adverse health effects of RF radiation occur at several hundred thousand times below FCC guidelines

• The Wi-Fi frequency used in the school, 2.45 GHz, is the most damaging to the body. This frequency, also used in microwave ovens, is resonant with water molecules and most absorbed by the brain.

Wi-Fi alters brain activity in young adults

Two recent studies show that EM fields from Wi-Fi alter electrical activity and decrease attention in young adults:

• Research in the Journal of Integrative Neuroscience (Vol. 10, pp. 189-201, June, 2011) showed that P300, a measure of the electrical potential on the surface of the scalp, decreased in young men when Wi-Fi was turned on. P300 is associated with attention and mental activity.

• Another study found Wi-Fi signals significantly decreased electrical activity (alpha and beta frequencies) in cortical areas of young women while they were performing a memory task. (6th International Workshop on Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields, Oct. 2010)

• In both studies, Wi-Fi modems were 1.5 m from subjects

Major Scientific Reports • The 2007 BioInitiative Report and the 2009 Seletun Report,

both produced by international teams of leading scientists, evaluated research on effects of EMF and RF.

• Both reports concluded that present international and FCC standards for EMF and RF are not adequate to protect the public. More stringent standards were recommended.

• In April, 2012, The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) issued a position paper recognizing multiple studies correlate RF exposure with cancer, neurological disease, reproductive disorders, immune dysfunction, genetic damage, and other diseases.

• Caution was advised with all RF technologies, and especially with Smart Meters.

• Exact long-term effects of RF and safety levels may not be yet known. But enough is known to recommend caution.

Big Picture: Electrification and Disease

•A study by Sam Milham, MD in Medical Hypothesis (74: 235-247, 2010) reported a strong correlation between the rise of diseases of civilization (including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, suicide, and cancer) and the degree of electrification. Full study: sammilham.com/historical%20evidence.pdf

•The book Zapped by Ann Louise Gittleman is an excellent reference on the current understanding of the effects of electromagnetic fields and how they affect the physiology. The book also provides many different strategies, including foods and dietary supplements, to protect against the effects of electromagnetic fields.