Energy and Climate Change CommitteeWritten evidence submitted by Allison Rice (SMR05)

I am strongly against the roll out of smart meters. I have found that exposure to the radiation generated from smart meters causes me serious health problems including sleep disturbance, fevers and heart palpitations. I cannot at present stay in a house that has one of these meters.

I am becoming more and more aware that I am not alone in having health reactions to radiation emitted from devises such as smart meters. The name for this type of reaction is Electro-sensitivity. I was diagnosed with it by Professor Brostoff, Allergy Consultant in 2008.

There is a wealth of material now available on scientific and public concerns about the effects of electro-magnetic fields (EMFs) and radiation (of the type emitted by smart meters) on human health. I would particularly recommend reading 2007 Bio-Initiative Report and Document 12608 produced by the Council of Europe’s Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs 2011 (both available online). The latter report quotes, amongst others, a recent French research project which concluded after studying the physiological changes in 200 people who claim that they have health problems after exposure to elector-magnetic fields and radiation that “there is such a syndrome of intolerance for electro-magnetic fields and that Electro-sensitivity does exist and those people are not feigning illness or suffering from psychiatric disorder”.

I have friends in Australia who are having terrible health problems following the enforced roll-out of smart meters in certain states and they are in a situation where they either go without smart meters or electricity,

Please follow a pre-cautionary principle on this matter. I feel it is very important that smart meters should be optional and that people must be educated about the technology on which they operate ie the radiation emitted and possible health effects following long term exposure. There is already a lot of concern being voiced in other countries following implementation. Please let us learn from this.

February 2013