Horrified by anti-smart meter flyer

A flyer against smart meters being installed in Naperville recently showed up at my door. While there are legitimate reasons to be concerned about the meters, I was simultaneously amused and horrified to see the flyer proclaiming the radiation from the meters is a health risk.

Visible light is a more energetic form of radiation than wireless devices use, and studies of people claiming adverse affects from wireless transmitters have proved it nothing more than a placebo effect (they would experience symptoms only when told a device was on, independent of when said device was actually activated).

We all know UV rays are harmful, and X-rays more so — but until that threshold in the UV spectrum, electromagnetic radiation has no harmful effects (absorbing such radiation merely heats your body).

Just as the word “chemical” is a scientific term that can refer to mundane things like water, radiation does not necessarily refer to harmful energy or particles.

Tim Murphy

Naperville