Smart meters: Quebec’s "health tax" challenged
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07.12.2012, 17:02:0807.12.12
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Smart�meters: Quebec�s "health tax" challenged
Adapted�from La Maison du 21e si�cle magazine, Winter 2013 issue
By�Andr� Fauteux, Editor
�
Ga�tane�Boucher has lost everything: her family, her home, her job. While living in�Granby, Quebec, the former industrial designer constantly suffered from severe�headaches, numbness, dizziness, blurry vision and memory loss�she related to�electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure. "As a child, I lived in a house with�radiant electric heating in the ceiling and I played regularly under powerlines�- feet in the water to boot! - for 10 summers. I later acquired my�electrosensitivity symptoms after working on a computer 8-10 hours a day for�many years.
�
Diagnosis�recognized
Ms.�Boucher suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome, accompanied by chemical intolerance�and electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS). This heavy diagnosis was recognized�in 2006 by the Quebec Office for People with�Disabilities (OPHQ). The�48-year-old woman thus receives a disability pension of $ 797 per month.
There�is no proof that EMFs cause EHS, said the World Health Organization (WHO) in�2005. Nevertheless, this syndrome, which surveys have shown affects up to 10%�of Europeans, is recognized by the Austrian Medical�Association and�Scandinavian countries. In 2000, the Nordic Council of Ministers of these�countries including Denmark recognized that symptoms of �electromagnetic�intolerance "disappear in non-electrical environments." EHS is�difficult�to diagnose, because people can react to different frequencies and the�manifestation of symptoms is often delayed. Sweden recognizes EHS as a�functional impairment entitling those who are affected to a suitable�environment where EMF levels are low.
This�is what millions of people who have become intolerant to EMFs are demanding. A�class action suit filed by some sixty British Columbians will be heard in 2013�by their provincial Human Rights Tribunal. They say they are�harmed by the new�digital meters that emit thousands of brief microwave pulses daily. This type�of microwave radiofrequency (RF) was classified as "possibly�carcinogenic" by the WHO in 2011.
In�2006, exhausted and discouraged at having to move 14 times in two years without�being able to relieve her symptoms, Ga�tane Boucher finally discovered in�Lac-M�gantic, a rare Quebec valley which at the time was still free of�RFs�emitted by cell phone antennas. She built herself a small cabin in the woods,�where she recovered her health by living without electricity for three years.�She still lives there, alone, without a phone: "I'm dying of boredom and�isolation," she wrote us by email. After getting well, she asked�Hydro-Qu�bec to connect her cottage to the electric grid. A decision she�bitterly regrets today.
�
Meter�symptoms
Her�health collapsed after Hydro-Qu�bec installed an Itron brand first-generation�wireless meter. In the last eight years, some 800,000 Quebec homes were�equipped with these devices, which transmit RFs to allow remote reading�of�electrical consumption, as well as the 20,000 second-generation�"smart" meters, installed in three pilot regions in 2012. "My�vision is a bit murky, I feel pressure in my forehead, buzzing and pain in my�ears, I lose
my�balance, have difficulty concentrating and mood swings: all the symptoms that I�have when I'm in the city, but less intense, says Boucher. I sleep a lot and I�have to rest often. Before, I could work on my property and in my�cottage�without a problem. But since the meter was installed, my life is very difficult�every day. '
Ms.�Boucher is flabbergasted by two decisions issued on October 5 by the Qu�bec�Energy Board. At first, it allowed Hydro-Qu�bec to install 1.7 million�residential smart meters of the 3.8 million slated for installation by 2017.�This�despite that in many countries, thousands of people have complained of�health problems occurring after the installation of such meters on or in their�home.
�
Opt�out fee
"Like�many, I'm very angry, upset and worried for us and our children," said�Ga�tane Boucher. She is especially outraged that the Board, in its second�October 5 decision, authorized Hydro-Qu�bec to impose fees of $98 to $137 to�those who ask that a non-RF-emitting meter be installed, as well a permanent�$17 monthly fee ($206 per year for life) to cover the cost of manual meter�reading which up to now has been free of charge. For her, these fees amount�to�a health tax because the installation of a non-emitting meter is essential to�her well-being.
Ms.�Boucher is stunned that the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services has�stated in a public health advisory issued in March 2012, that RF meters�"do not pose health risks." The Energy Board's decision was based on�this statement.
This�despite the fact that the health effects of RF meters have never been studied.�The Supreme Court of the State of Maine recently ordered a thorough scientific�investigation of this issue. Ten Quebec municipalities and more�than 17,000�Quebecers have signed a petition asking the government to impose a moratorium on�the installation of smart meters.
"Deploying�a mesh network where millions of transmitters will communicate constantly�together with the router retransmitting a deluge of data on Rogers' cellphone�network is like adding a new wireless network on steroids, since�it will�operate continuously. This will undoubtedly be the electromagnetic storm that�breaks the camel's back which is already overloaded by the ambient�electrosmog," says the Quebec's Coalition Against Electromagnetic�Pollution (cqlpe.ca).
�
Warning�ignored
The�Energy Board did not accept the warning expressed in a report it received from�Dr David Carpenter, who graduated in medicine from Harvard University and is a�professor of public health at the University of Albany, New York.
According�to Carpenter, although a smart meter is much less powerful than a cellphone or�a relay antenna (phone mast), if it is installed near a bed it can give a�higher cumulative dose than that received from a far-away phone�mast or from a�cell phone that is sporadically used with a headset. This is because the meter�pulses high density RF spikes as well as high frequency transients (so-called�dirty electricity) 24 hours a day. These emissions may be�why ''adverse�neurological effects have been reported in people who are often close -�especially less than three meters -from wireless meters," states a letter�by Dr. Carpenter endorsed by some fifty experts and published on our�website,�maisonsaine.ca.
�
How�to protect yourself
Montrealer�Helen Keyser is well aware of the problem. Her epileptic daughter Nickie, 23,�slept 10 ft (3 m) from an Itron meter installed in her neighbor's apartment.�"We believed that the symptoms were caused by her medication,�she says,�and as the crisis continued, the neurologist increased the dose. But that did�not help."
It�is when she experienced symptoms similar to her daughter�s that Ms Keyser drew�a parallel. "When we eliminated all wireless devices in the house, her�condition greatly improved. Then, after asking her to change rooms,�everything�came back to normal: Nickie no longer has no insomnia, nor headaches, nor�memory problems, she no longer spends her weekends sleeping and she has fewer�seizures."
Keyser�said she became intolerant to EMFs because the same meter was installed 5ft�(1.5 m) from her home office. "I hit the jackpot: huge problems writing and�reading, unable to count, falling asleep in the bath in the morning�and in�constant physical pain to the point of taking painkillers several times a day.�I had no health problems related to wireless devices before the meter was�installed. I had to evacuate my office and stay many hours in the�basement to�recover every day.''
Keyser�later discovered an easy and cheap way to shield her family from RF/microwaves:�"To counter an RF transmitter installed in a home, the best solution I�found is: build a wooden box to enclose what's necessary, cover the�meter with�aluminum foil and a mosquito screen, then another layer of aluminum, and cover�it all with a cement board - the gray type which we use as shower backing.�"
Is�the Quebec government responsive to such testimonies and demands from its�citizens? The office of the Minister of Health, R�jean H�bert, did not return�our calls. "We are investigating the case," said in an interview�Laurie�Comtois, press officer of the Minister of Natural Resources, Martine�Ouellet. �The Minister, confirmed Ms. Comtois, has received "several�letters and emails" about it, "from everywhere in Quebec."
Adapted�from La Maison du 21e si�cle magazine, Winter 2013 issue
By�Andr� Fauteux, Editor
�
Ga�tane�Boucher has lost everything: her family, her home, her job. While living in�Granby, Quebec, the former industrial designer constantly suffered from severe�headaches, numbness, dizziness, blurry vision and memory loss�she related to�electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure. "As a child, I lived in a house with�radiant electric heating in the ceiling and I played regularly under powerlines�- feet in the water to boot! - for 10 summers. I later acquired my�electrosensitivity symptoms after working on a computer 8-10 hours a day for�many years.
�
Diagnosis�recognized
Ms.�Boucher suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome, accompanied by chemical intolerance�and electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS). This heavy diagnosis was recognized�in 2006 by the Quebec Office for People with�Disabilities (OPHQ). The�48-year-old woman thus receives a disability pension of $ 797 per month.
There�is no proof that EMFs cause EHS, said the World Health Organization (WHO) in�2005. Nevertheless, this syndrome, which surveys have shown affects up to 10%�of Europeans, is recognized by the Austrian Medical�Association and�Scandinavian countries. In 2000, the Nordic Council of Ministers of these�countries including Denmark recognized that symptoms of �electromagnetic�intolerance "disappear in non-electrical environments." EHS is�difficult�to diagnose, because people can react to different frequencies and the�manifestation of symptoms is often delayed. Sweden recognizes EHS as a�functional impairment entitling those who are affected to a suitable�environment where EMF levels are low.
This�is what millions of people who have become intolerant to EMFs are demanding. A�class action suit filed by some sixty British Columbians will be heard in 2013�by their provincial Human Rights Tribunal. They say they are�harmed by the new�digital meters that emit thousands of brief microwave pulses daily. This type�of microwave radiofrequency (RF) was classified as "possibly�carcinogenic" by the WHO in 2011.
In�2006, exhausted and discouraged at having to move 14 times in two years without�being able to relieve her symptoms, Ga�tane Boucher finally discovered in�Lac-M�gantic, a rare Quebec valley which at the time was still free of�RFs�emitted by cell phone antennas. She built herself a small cabin in the woods,�where she recovered her health by living without electricity for three years.�She still lives there, alone, without a phone: "I'm dying of boredom and�isolation," she wrote us by email. After getting well, she asked�Hydro-Qu�bec to connect her cottage to the electric grid. A decision she�bitterly regrets today.
�
Meter�symptoms
Her�health collapsed after Hydro-Qu�bec installed an Itron brand first-generation�wireless meter. In the last eight years, some 800,000 Quebec homes were�equipped with these devices, which transmit RFs to allow remote reading�of�electrical consumption, as well as the 20,000 second-generation�"smart" meters, installed in three pilot regions in 2012. "My�vision is a bit murky, I feel pressure in my forehead, buzzing and pain in my�ears, I lose
my�balance, have difficulty concentrating and mood swings: all the symptoms that I�have when I'm in the city, but less intense, says Boucher. I sleep a lot and I�have to rest often. Before, I could work on my property and in my�cottage�without a problem. But since the meter was installed, my life is very difficult�every day. '
Ms.�Boucher is flabbergasted by two decisions issued on October 5 by the Qu�bec�Energy Board. At first, it allowed Hydro-Qu�bec to install 1.7 million�residential smart meters of the 3.8 million slated for installation by 2017.�This�despite that in many countries, thousands of people have complained of�health problems occurring after the installation of such meters on or in their�home.
�
Opt�out fee
"Like�many, I'm very angry, upset and worried for us and our children," said�Ga�tane Boucher. She is especially outraged that the Board, in its second�October 5 decision, authorized Hydro-Qu�bec to impose fees of $98 to $137 to�those who ask that a non-RF-emitting meter be installed, as well a permanent�$17 monthly fee ($206 per year for life) to cover the cost of manual meter�reading which up to now has been free of charge. For her, these fees amount�to�a health tax because the installation of a non-emitting meter is essential to�her well-being.
Ms.�Boucher is stunned that the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services has�stated in a public health advisory issued in March 2012, that RF meters�"do not pose health risks." The Energy Board's decision was based on�this statement.
This�despite the fact that the health effects of RF meters have never been studied.�The Supreme Court of the State of Maine recently ordered a thorough scientific�investigation of this issue. Ten Quebec municipalities and more�than 17,000�Quebecers have signed a petition asking the government to impose a moratorium on�the installation of smart meters.
"Deploying�a mesh network where millions of transmitters will communicate constantly�together with the router retransmitting a deluge of data on Rogers' cellphone�network is like adding a new wireless network on steroids, since�it will�operate continuously. This will undoubtedly be the electromagnetic storm that�breaks the camel's back which is already overloaded by the ambient�electrosmog," says the Quebec's Coalition Against Electromagnetic�Pollution (cqlpe.ca).
�
Warning�ignored
The�Energy Board did not accept the warning expressed in a report it received from�Dr David Carpenter, who graduated in medicine from Harvard University and is a�professor of public health at the University of Albany, New York.
According�to Carpenter, although a smart meter is much less powerful than a cellphone or�a relay antenna (phone mast), if it is installed near a bed it can give a�higher cumulative dose than that received from a far-away phone�mast or from a�cell phone that is sporadically used with a headset. This is because the meter�pulses high density RF spikes as well as high frequency transients (so-called�dirty electricity) 24 hours a day. These emissions may be�why ''adverse�neurological effects have been reported in people who are often close -�especially less than three meters -from wireless meters," states a letter�by Dr. Carpenter endorsed by some fifty experts and published on our�website,�maisonsaine.ca.
�
How�to protect yourself
Montrealer�Helen Keyser is well aware of the problem. Her epileptic daughter Nickie, 23,�slept 10 ft (3 m) from an Itron meter installed in her neighbor's apartment.�"We believed that the symptoms were caused by her medication,�she says,�and as the crisis continued, the neurologist increased the dose. But that did�not help."
It�is when she experienced symptoms similar to her daughter�s that Ms Keyser drew�a parallel. "When we eliminated all wireless devices in the house, her�condition greatly improved. Then, after asking her to change rooms,�everything�came back to normal: Nickie no longer has no insomnia, nor headaches, nor�memory problems, she no longer spends her weekends sleeping and she has fewer�seizures."
Keyser�said she became intolerant to EMFs because the same meter was installed 5ft�(1.5 m) from her home office. "I hit the jackpot: huge problems writing and�reading, unable to count, falling asleep in the bath in the morning�and in�constant physical pain to the point of taking painkillers several times a day.�I had no health problems related to wireless devices before the meter was�installed. I had to evacuate my office and stay many hours in the�basement to�recover every day.''
Keyser�later discovered an easy and cheap way to shield her family from RF/microwaves:�"To counter an RF transmitter installed in a home, the best solution I�found is: build a wooden box to enclose what's necessary, cover the�meter with�aluminum foil and a mosquito screen, then another layer of aluminum, and cover�it all with a cement board - the gray type which we use as shower backing.�"
Is�the Quebec government responsive to such testimonies and demands from its�citizens? The office of the Minister of Health, R�jean H�bert, did not return�our calls. "We are investigating the case," said in an interview�Laurie�Comtois, press officer of the Minister of Natural Resources, Martine�Ouellet. �The Minister, confirmed Ms. Comtois, has received "several�letters and emails" about it, "from everywhere in Quebec."
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(Thanks to Google and Daryl Vernon for help translating!)
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