Class action lawsuit over Smart Meter harm to humans dismissed by Supreme Court

Wednesday, July 20, 2016 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer
Tags: smart meters, RF radiation, health effects

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(NaturalNews) A judge with the British Columbia Supreme Court has dismissed a class action lawsuit initiated by a yoga instructor. The lawsuit claims that the smart meters installed by electric company BC Hydro are making residents sick.

Nomi Davis of Salt Spring Island filed the suit in 2013, noting that she began to suffer health problems after BC Hydro installed a smart meter at her home against her wishes.

Smart meters are digital utility meters that transmit utility usage information to the utility company via high-energy radiofrequency (RF) radiation. This is the same radiation emitted by cellular phones and towers, as well as by wireless internet.

'No evidence?'

After the installation of the smart meter at her home, Davis began suffering from headaches and joint pain. Other customers suffering health problems after the installation of BC Hydro smart meters joined Davis's lawsuit.

The lawsuit claimed that by installing smart meters without customers' consent, BC Hydro had violated those customers' rights to life, liberty and security of person.

Judge Elaine Adair was not convinced however, and said that there was simply not enough material evidence to support those claims, and that therefore no court would be able to find in the plaintiffs' favor.

"There is no admissible evidence that these issues could be resolved on a class-wide basis," Adair wrote.

Part of the problem seems to stem from the fact that not everyone reacts to RF radiation in the same way – thus the need for the label of "electro-sensitivity." Yet, according to the EMF Safety Network, which has collected reports on the health effects of wireless radiation, problems associated with smart meters include mood disorders (anxiety, irritability, agitation and stress), sleep problems, headaches, flu-like symptoms, pain or ringing in the ears, balance problems and dizziness, fatigue, weakness, eye problems (including pain), cramps or neuropathy in the legs, skin disorders, respiratory problems, urinary problems, cognitive symptoms (hyperactivity, disorientation or problems with concentration, memory and learning), seizures, cancer recurrence and even dysfunction of the endocrine system or heart.

Yes, radiation damages DNA

Despite the judge's claims, there is indeed reason to believe that smart meters might cause health problems. The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified cellular phone radiation as a possible carcinogen, based on a review of the scientific research.

Cell phones and smart meters both use RF radiation to transmit their signals.

Traditionally, scientists have believed that "non-ionizing" radiation, including RF radiation, is too low-energy to damage cells or DNA. Yet, evidence continues to build up to the contrary. The industry-funded Interphone study, for example, found that a decade of cellular phone use increases the risk of brain tumors by 40 percent. Among those who started using cell phones before age 20, the risk increase was 400 percent.

Findings like these are what led many European governments to ban cellular phones and wireless internet from libraries and elementary schools, and also led to the European Union's environmental watchdog organization warning in 2007 that overenthusiastic adoption of cellular technology "could lead to a health crisis similar to those caused by asbestos, smoking, and lead in petrol."

A 2015 study from the journal Electromagnetic Biology & Medicine uncovered one mechanism by which RF radiation might cause a wide variety of health problems, including cancer. A review of prior research on the health effects of RF radiation revealed that radiation levels equivalent to those obtained from normal cell phone or wireless internet use are enough to cause oxidative stress – a condition in which the production of cell- and DNA-damaging free radicals overwhelms the capacity of the body's antioxidants to keep them in check.

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Sources for this article include:

VancouverSun.com

EMFSafetyNetwork.org

StopSmartMeters.org

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com

StopSmartMeters.org