
Smart meter installations stir rowdy response - protomyth
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/smart-meter-installations-stir-rowdy-response-from-gun-toting-cage-building-texans/2012/08/25/96c19616-eee2-11e1-b624-99dee49d8d67_story_1.html
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lutusp
> _Some say the meters would allow the police or other government agencies to
> tell when a person was awake and what they were doing in violation of the
> Fourth Amendment._

A legitimate concern.

> _Some studies have also added to the health concerns. A branch of the World
> Health Organization last year called radio-frequency radiation from
> cellphones, utility meters and other devices a “possible carcinogen.”_

This has been studied and the non-ionizing radiation emitted by a smart meter
(or a cell phone) is much, much less than that from other sources. So even
though in principle it might increase cancer incidence in an environment
devoid of other sources of radiation, in a natural environment it cannot
measurably change the rates.

It's important to distinguish between ionizing and non-ionizing radiation.
Nuclear radiation, that created by disintegrating atomic nuclei, is "ionizing"
radiation. It can dislodge electrons from atoms and thus produce ions.
Electromagnetic energy from radio transmitters, cell phones and smart meters
is non-ionizing radiation -- it cannot create ions and on that basis is
regarded as much less dangerous.

It's unfortunate that both these kinds of radiation have the same name and are
often lumped together in the public's mind, especially in the presence of an
overwhelmingly powerful source of non-ionizing radiation that is often
completely ignored -- sunlight.

