The Health Dangers of Smart Meters, Cell Phones and Wireless Routers and How to Lower the Risks of Serious Illnesses

Photo: grateful thanks to TimJ on Unsplash.

By Marcel Hernandez, ND

It’s just one more of those danged health perils of the modern moment.

In our busy lives today, there’s scarcely a milli-microsecond when we aren’t being literally drenched with electromagnetic frequencies (EMFs).

With the advent of this new age of energy-awareness, we’ve run helter-skelter after every bright, shiny, new and promising wireless technology, from wi-fi to 5G – without pondering its potential to impact our health.

We’ve erected, quite literally, millions of cell towers and wi-fi hotspots that are continuously bathing the planet in man-made radiation.

EMFs are ubiquitous in our homes, offices, schools, and everywhere. And the unfortunate fact is that these EMF signals interfere with our body’s electrical circuitry.

Marcel Hernandez, ND

Our municipalities are now installing wireless “smart utility meters” on our homes, and 5G small-cell antennas in our neighborhoods that pulse powerful radiation constantly.

The clinical result is that we are now seeing both children and adults with symptoms that range from headaches, nausea, anxiety, depression, sleep disorders and behavior issues, to cancers, heart problems, chronic illnesses, DNA mutations, and infertility.

Children and fetuses are particularly vulnerable to EMFs, because their growing tissues absorb significantly more radiation into their underdeveloped immune systems, DNA, bones, brains and other organs.

The current FCC safety standards do not address the cognitive impact of EMFs on the elderly, or the immune-system impacts for those with existing health conditions.

Our current “safety” standards were put in place after recommendations by electronics and electrical engineers, not by doctors and scientists who would have been far better qualified to understand the biological effects of exposing humans and other living organisms to radiation.

Thousands of studies have been conducted, and many countries have consequently banned or restricted the use of wi-fi and cell phones in buildings where children are present, also putting in place provisions to protect pregnant women.

The U.S., however, though wonderfully innovative, has been slow to own up to the detrimental health impacts these technologies are inflicting on its populace.

Without legislated protections, it’s up to us individually to remediate the impacts of wireless radiation and protect ourselves and our loved ones where we live, work, learn, and play.

Smart Meters

The problem. Smart meters emit Radio Frequency (RF) Radiation – exactly the same radiation that microwave ovens use to cook food. In 2011, the World Health Organization classified RF radiation as possibly carcinogenic. Hundreds of studies, some dating back to the 1960s, have linked RF radiation to cancer.

The U.S. safety limit for RF radiation is 1,000 micro-watts per meter squared. Yet some smart meters emit up to 60 times that amount, or 60,000 micro-watts per m2.

There are two ways smart meters emit RF radiation. The first is as we’ve described above – the device itself emits up to 60,000 micro-watts per square meter. The second way is that the smart meter causes repeated spikes and surges of higher electric frequencies to be running through the electrical wires in every circuit of the building. These spikes and surges are of a sufficiently high frequency to become airborne and radiate through the walls and into the rooms of the structure.

This form of RF radiation is called “electromagnetic smog,” or “dirty electricity.”

Remediation: Some U.S. power companies have smart meter opt-out programs. For a small extra monthly fee, they will replace your smart meter with an analog meter that doesn’t emit RF frequencies.

You can also install a smart-meter guard: a conductive metal mesh screen that you can place over your smart meter to block 90%-95% of the RF radiation. It’s highly effective, not very expensive, and very easy to install. One guard may be found here.

Cell Phones

The problem. The ionizing radiation emitted by x-ray machines and the sun boosts cancer risk by shredding molecules in the body. But the non-ionizing RF radiation emitted by cell phones and other wireless devices has just one known biological effect: an ability to heat tissue by exciting its molecules.

This tissue-heating effect has been studied in the U.S. and in other countries. Results leaked in 2016 from a $25-million animal study provide the most compelling evidence yet that RF energy may be linked to cancer.

The strongest finding connected RF radiation with heart schwannomas in male rats, but the researchers also reported elevated rates of lymphomas, as well as cancers affecting the prostate, skin, lung, liver and brain in the exposed animals.

During a three-day meeting in 2016, the study results were reviewed by a panel of outside experts who concluded that there was “clear evidence” linking RF radiation with heart schwannomas and “some evidence” linking it to gliomas of the brain.

When turned on, cell phones and other wireless devices emit RF radiation continually, even if they are not being actively used, because they are always communicating with cell towers.

The dose intensity tails off with increasing distance from the body, reaching a maximum when the devices are used next to the head during phone calls or in front of the body during texting or tweeting.

How much radio frequency energy we’re exposed to while using our smart devices will depend on many factors, such as the technology of the particular phone, the distance between the phone and the user, the extent and type of mobile phone use, and the user’s distance from cell phone towers.

Remediation.

  1. Keep your distance. Use the speakerphone or an air tube headset. Air tube headsets convert the electrical signal into harmless airwaves. Many types of headsets are available. Do an internet search for “air tube headsets” and take your pick.
  2. Use a shield. Search for “cell phone EMF pouches.” These pouches are made of materials that help minimize your risk of exposure. They do a great job of keeping you protected while the phone is being carried in a bag, purse, or pocket. The Aulterra Neutralizer Sticker is a product with a surprising volume of scientific backing.
  3. Get an alarm clock. Sleeping with your phone next to your head can cause headaches, nausea, insomnia, depression, and even brain tumors.
  4. Turn data and wi-fi off when you don’t need them. When you have wi-fi turned on, your phone is constantly searching for networks to join, even if there aren’t any. With data on, you’re inviting EMF rays from all surrounding cell phone towers and satellites. Turning both off will reduce your radiation exposure by a considerable amount.
  5. Try texting more than speaking. When you text, you’re only pinging the cell tower for the time it takes for the text to come through. Once it’s sent, the EMF waves fall back to the usual level. When you’re continuously talking, you are continuously bombarded by radiation.
  6. Turn off GPS when it’s not needed. GPS is one of the biggest offenders when it comes to emitting radiation, since it uses strong signals to connect with satellites.

Wireless Routers

The problem.

Your wireless router uses radio frequency energy to connect to the internet. Regardless of whether you have a new 5G router or a high-powered wi-fi or even an Eco-Low Power router, it’s emitting high-frequency radio waves or non-ionizing radiation. These are exactly the same “information-carrying radio waves” emitted by cell phones, smart meters, laptops, baby monitors, tablets, and computers. It’s just another type of electromagnetic field, or EMF.

While studies are still being conducted, the exposure from a wi-fi router may contribute to a long list of adverse biological effects, including:

  • Brain development and health due to effects on the blood-brain barrier, metabolism of glucose, thermal versus non-thermal effects, hyperactivity, and digital dementia
  • Brain cancer – from heavy use of cell phones
  • Breast cancer – from carrying cell phones in bras
  • Children’s development – radiation can be absorbed more deeply into children’s brains because of their softer and thinner skulls
  • Female reproduction – EMF may damage the ovarian follicles.
  • Male reproduction – recent studies in Japan and Hong Kong have reported wireless radiation can kill sperm
  • Oxidative stress – disrupts the normal state of cells, undermining the body’s ability to counteract the damaging effects of free radicals
  • Sleep – Including falling asleep, duration of sleep, and sleep quality

Remediation. Try a Low-EMF Radiation Router like this one. This router keeps the signal strength low until it’s accessed by your computer, laptop, or smartphone.

You can also use a router guard, a cage-like device that lowers or blocks EMF exposure. Here is one.

The EMF issue is indeed the elephant in the room. No one wants to talk about it or study it because the facts will cause an enormous upheaval in our work and recreation. “Ignorance is bliss” appears to be the guiding thought when it comes to addressing the problem. “We can’t directly feel it, so it must not exist.”

For information about the services we offer at Pacific Naturopathic, please give us a call at 650-961-1660, or use the convenient Contact Form to get in touch. Thank you!