AN elderly resident’s health fears prompted his electricity provider to reduce radiation from his smart meter by 90 per cent.

Jemena agreed to reduce the meter’s radiofrequency from 1000mw to 100mw after Oak Park asbestosis sufferer Antonio Bonifazio, 67, expressed concerns about possible effects.

Mr Bonifazio said he was “very much afraid of radiation”.

“I’ve lost 50 to 55 per cent of my lung capacity,” Mr Bonifazio said.

“Every time I get an X-ray it feels like a horse has kicked me in the chest. These meters emit some type of radiation, which they say is minimal.

“If they can reduce it to only 10 per cent from 100 per cent then that’s a bonus for me. They should do it for everyone.”

Jemena spokesman Scott Parker said the smart meter’s standard radiofrequency of 1000mw was safe and less than 1 per cent of the maximum allowed by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency.

He said the reduction would have “no effect on the customer’s health”, but the company agreed to it because “the action will not compromise network communications” and “we always do whatever we can to support our customers”.

Mr Parker said it would only consider such a move in “very rare” cases.

Melbourne University electrodynamics lecturer Dr Martin Sevior said that numerous studies had demonstrated the radiofrequencies emitted from mobile phones and smart meters had no measurable negative effect on human health.