Radiation from wireless smart meter devices does not threaten public health, the California Council on Science and Technology has reported. But, while the radiation from those devices falls within federal limits beyond which electromagnetic waves heat human tissues, other health factors--real or imagined--are less clear, including headaches and nausea the devices are said to cause.
Pacific Gas & Electric has been installing the devices as part of an overreaching energy management plan. Smart meters are seen by some as the first incursion by utilities into the broadband telecommunications space since they sit at the end of mostly fiber-based utility networks.
For the utility, the study alleviates (some concerns that some customers have raised about radio frequency and smart meters.
For opponents, probably including two women arrested for trying to block PG&E deployment trucks, the report shows that "they cannot dismiss health impacts from the radiation in smart meters." For Assemblyman Jared Huffman, who requested the report, it indicates "the debate over this issue is not going to be resolved any time soon."
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