1) This 2016 article explains what we confront in our efforts to get science-based guidelines on EMF, the environment, etc. — bent and bought scientists who work for “product defense” companies, saying whatever they are paid to say. Gradient and Dr. Valberg are the main heavies here, supporting asbestos and even saying there IS a safe level of asbestos exposure. But there are others, namely Exponent (formerly ChemRisk which is named in this article) which has been hired by FortisBC twice in support of their electric smeters and now with their gas smeters. We need to ask FortisBC why, if they are so sure that their smeters are safe, they would hire such a disreputable “product defense” company as their one and only expert witness.
(click on photo to enlarge)
Meet the ‘rented white coats’ who defend toxic chemicals
About ‘Science for Sale’
“Science and opinion have become increasingly conflated, in large part because of corporate influence. As we explain in “Science for Sale,” [https://archive.publicintegrity.org/topics/environment/science-for-sale] an investigative series by the Center for Public Integrity and co-published with Vice.com, industry-backed research has exploded — often with the aim of obscuring the truth — as government-funded science dwindles….
Gradient belongs to a breed of scientific consulting firms that defends the products of its corporate clients beyond credulity, even exhaustively studied substances whose dangers are not in doubt, such as asbestos, lead and arsenic….
The techniques of consulting firms like Gradient evoke the tobacco industry’s strategy of creating doubt about science. Gradient doesn’t do its own animal or human studies. Often, it criticizes the work of others.”
https://publicintegrity.org/environment/meet-the-rented-white-coats-who-defend-toxic-chemicals/
2) Friday morning, a member found a BC Hydro employee at her smeter (which she had tried valiantly to keep off her home). She said she was “uploading a software program”. She said she didn’t know what the upgrade was for but that it was the first one. The member told the BC Hydro person that she wanted to be notified in advance of any future upgrades, but we all know how good BC Hydro is at keeping its customers informed. She will be attempting to get info about this from BC Hydro and if she does, I will share with you.
If any of you are aware of having your smeter changed in any way — software or a new smeter, for example — would you please tell me and give any details you have. Email me at: citizensforsafertech@shaw.ca with “changed smeter“ on the subject line.
3) The evidence in the studies referenced here indicate a strong relationship between cell phone and cordless phone usage and thyroid cancers. This cancer is becoming more common and it appears that the thyroid is very vulnerable to EMF from other wireless sources as well — especially in children.
Radiofrequency Radiation: A Significant Factor in Increasing Thyroid Cancer?
“According to the authors of a 2013 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the increased incidence of thyroid cancer cannot be attributed to overdiagnosis (that is, improved diagnostic methods or more screening) but instead is likely due to environmental factors . 5 In particular, a growing body of scientific evidence from human and animal studies shows thyroid damage from the non-ionizing radiofrequency (RF) radiation produced by cell phones and Wi-Fi . Scandinavian researchers have pointed out that papillary thyroid cancers are particularly sensitive to radiation….
Concluding that their results “do definitely indicate an etiologic impact of an exogenous cancer-causing factor with increasing exposure over time,” the researchers pointed to the timeline of wireless phones’ rollout in Nordic countries (beginning with the first mobile and DECT phones in the 1980s), suggesting that the RF radiation from handheld phones should be a prime suspect.6 They noted that the phones’ antenna position “gives RF exposure to the thyroid gland”—one of the highest exposed organs other than the brain—and the phones, in addition, “give off RF radiation to the head and neck region.”
Radiofrequency Radiation: A Significant Factor in Increasing Thyroid Cancer?
https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/radiofrequency-radiation-factor-thyroid-cancer/
Sharon Noble, Director, Coalition to Stop Smart Meters
“Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.” Leonardo da Vinci