Housing, work & access barriers

Thank you, HHS Leadership, for the opportunity to share my personal perspective regarding Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs), Radiofrequency (RF) Radiation, and Wireless Radiation Exposure. I believe that I experience significant adverse effects from these technologies. My symptoms include headaches, skin and body pain as shooting, tingling, and burning sensations, and low level general anxiety that feels unnatural to me. Identifying the specific source is sometimes difficult, as exposure may come from the smartphone, smartwatch, laptop, tablet, Wi-Fi router, smart meter, cell tower, or other wireless infrastructure. At times it is obvious, like when I send an email from the phone and a burning sensation occurs in the hand holding the phone after I hit "send". These experiences are difficult to discuss with medical professionals, friends, and family because the prevailing assumption is that wireless technologies are harmless. I ask HHS to take seriously the distress people report, even when the causes remain uncertain. My home's smart meter, located outside the kitchen, is a great concern. While in that area I sometimes experience what feels like painful pulses or beams emanating from its vicinity. I also observe distressing patterns of emotional tension occurring in this location, more than normal for a family kitchen. I recognize that these observations do not establish causation, but I believe they warrant objective investigation rather than dismissal. I am undergoing medically supervised chelation for heavy metals in an attempt to find relief, at considerable expense and without a clear solution. The financial burden is unsustainable. I need accessible, evidence-based medical guidance that investigates potential causes rather than a mystery. During recent travel, I used an eSIM that restricted my phone to 4G connectivity. I experienced no anxiety for two weeks, until I returned to the mesh networks of the United States. This observation does not prove that 5G or any particular frequency caused my symptoms, but it raises a question I believe deserves investigation: Could different wireless technologies, exposure patterns, or environmental conditions affect some individuals differently? I believe we must reconsider the widespread implementation of technology which results in Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs), Radiofrequency (RF) Radiation, and Wireless Radiation Exposure. I think it might be a greater threat to our world than previously understood. I worry for my global neighbors and all our children as many cannot feel the disturbing emanations from their tech devices. I realize we are very far down this Tech road and pivoting away is, sadly yet probably, impossible. However, Consumers should have meaningful options to select lower-exposure technologies, including access to 4G-only connectivity when technically possible. Public installations across cities should be shielded to protect the citizens and nature. Scientific research warrants continued investigation. The U.S. National Toxicology Program reported evidence of certain tumors in animals exposed to high levels of RF radiation: https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/research/topics/cellphones. The International Agency for Research on Cancer classified RF electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans: https://www.iarc.who.int/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/pr208_E.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com. Research into environmental impacts identifies substantial evidence gaps concerning wildlife and plants, including reproduction, development, behavior, and growth: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13750-023-00304-3#citeas. Please review the information and concerns compiled by the Cellular Phone Task Force: https://cellularphonetaskforce.org/. These findings do not prove that wireless exposures cause the symptoms I experience, but they underscore the need for rigorous, independent research. I respectfully request that HHS engage several areas of actions immediately: 1. Support independent research into EMF/RF exposure and reported health effects, including symptoms in people who report sensitivity. 2. Investigate possible environmental effects on wildlife, pollinators, plants, biodiversity, and ecosystems. 3. Review existing exposure standards in light of emerging evidence, long-term exposure, vulnerable populations, and new technologies. 4. Promote transparent exposure information, accessible medical evaluation, and practical exposure-reduction options for concerned individuals. 5. Ensure that research is methodologically rigorous, publicly accessible, and free from inappropriate commercial influence. I also ask that my experience and that of others be investigated fairly, that scientific uncertainties be addressed openly, and that the public have meaningful choices while research continues. Thank you for your attention to and care for public health, scientific integrity, and the protection of all life.

I am father to two daughters that exhibit high sensitivity and adverse reactions to emf exposure, specifically cell phone, cell tower, and wifi router radiation. I am grateful that the HHS has invited public comment on this issue. As a high school physics teacher for over 30 years, I was at first slow to believe that wireless radiation could cause non-thermal biological effects in humans. The alarming symptoms experienced by my daughters, however, challenged my assumptions. I spent over $1000 on various meters so I could take my own measurements. I understand that there has been a lot of scientific research on this subject and that many studies conclude there are no harmful effects from cell phones or cell towers. My own experience and that of my family convinces me that this conclusion is false. Microwave radiation can definitely have serious effects on some people. In order to protect my family from wireless radiation harms we moved out of Chicago and now live in a semi-rural area on 2 acres. We use only wired internet devices in the home. We have no wifi router or bluetooth devices. The average microwave density in our home is now under 1.0 microwatt per square meter as measured by a Safe and Sound Pro II RF meter (see attached image). In contrast, the level in the high school where I teach averages 4.6, and in the eldercare facility where my son works around 18 𝜇W/m2. (See attached images) My eldest daughter began showing symptoms during her junior year at public high school in Chicago. When in the school building, which had a high density of wifi routers installed throughout, she would gradually feel more and more ill with nausea, brain fog, weakness, and bloody noses. These symptoms quickly abated when she left the building. Her high school counselor discounted her complaints and suggested she seek psychotherapy. She tried toughing it out, wanting to finish her high school diploma, but the continued high exposure only made her sensitivity increase. Eventually she had to withdraw and complete her diploma as a homeschooler. Meanwhile, my second daughter also began exhibiting similar symptoms. She was already being homeschooled but very active in Chicago community extra curricular activities – theater groups, art classes, park district programs, and martial arts. Sadly, because of adverse reactions to the radiation exposure in these facilities, she had to withdraw from these activities one by one. Similar to her sister, her reactions to RF include brain fog, fatigue, loss of speech, joint pain, and heart irregularities. While the move out of Chicago and the removal of sources of RF from our home was a necessary and effective remedy for my daughters, their lives are severely limited. High levels of RF, over 100 𝜇W/m2, are now becoming ubiquitous. My daughters must carefully limit time spent in stores, urban centers, medical facilities, even church and peoples homes. In person higher education is not possible for them. Radiation free employment is extremely difficult to find. Surviving emf sensitivity is not only logistically difficult but also expensive. In order to avoid the radiation from a smart meter, which emits intense short pulses of emf energy, I have to pay the electrical company a “manual read fee” of $115.77 each month. (See attached electrical bill) This adds up to nearly $1400 per year, a ridiculously unfair penalty. Another source of emf radiation which my daughters react to are LED lightbulbs. These devices produce what is known as “dirty electricity” in the home circuits. It is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to purchase incandescent lightbulbs. The current federal rules prohibiting the manufacture and sale of incandescent bulbs needs to be repealed. I am very concerned for the future. If the spread of high radiation levels continues at the current pace, opportunities for a healthy life for people like my daughters will shrink ever smaller. I urge the HHS to take seriously the potential harms of RF radiation and pursue more independent research on this important issue.

Question 3 Personal experience I first noticed symptoms around 2009, but I did not understand what was causing them. I went to an engineering school that twas known for its connectivity and they recently upgraded the school network, I had to start commuting.
 My symptoms include tingling in my extremities and body; head tension; widespread sustained muscle tightness; brain fog; and fatigue. Over time, I began recognizing a pattern in when they occurred and which environments I could tolerate. From 2012, the problem became more pronounced after I installed one of the faster Wi-Fi routers on the market including dual-band with 5 GHz capability. This created problems, while other wireless environments were tolerable. I lived comfortably for years with older equipment, yet experienced symptoms in particular homes and workplaces.
 In 2020, triggering episodes became more frequent and disruptive with certain routers and some cellular exposures, specifically after the new repeater tower rollout in March 2020. 

More recently, newer phones have become an everyday challenge. The iPhone 17 Pro for example will trigger symptoms within seconds of being within a couple of feet. I have also experienced this response in a blinded test along with other devices. Oddly enough I have no issues with iPhone devices before 15 Pro.
 For these newer phones specifically, cellular triggers symptoms as if its home router, while Wi-Fi-only operation is generally better tolerated. In addition newer Wi-Fi routers and satellite-internet equipment also trigger very very strong episodes (the starlinks are extremely harsh on my system). 

For personal use I obtained was a modifiable router - JRS Eco - and adjusting the beacon setting changed/reduced the intensity of my response, but doesn’t change my issue.
 An encounter of around ten seconds from a strong device can begin a reaction that takes hours to recover from. Continued exposure makes the symptoms build. After leaving, they gradually decline. Fatigue can be the last thing to clear. That said I return to my normal baseline if given space to recover. Severe episodes, recovery can take days.
 When fully recovered, I work, exercise regularly and enjoy an active social life. But repeated episodes can be debilitating: I lose hours of functioning to reactions that took seconds to begin. Recovery does not resolve the disruption of being repeatedly triggered in ordinary environments.
 I work with several medical practitioners, but we have not identified why my body responds this way. We have tried many approaches to help manage recovery, but have not found a reliable way to prevent the reactions.
 Question 5 Exposure assessment Please assess modern cellular handsets, infrastructure, Wi-Fi across generations (including Wi-Fi 6/7) and satellite-internet equipment, covering sub-6 GHz and mmWave exposures. Measure frequency, modulation, pulse rate/timing (important), duty cycle, peak/average power, beamforming, and simultaneous transmissions.
 DO NOT treat absence of tissue heating as a complete answer about safety. Investigate whether membrane properties, sodium/calcium-channel regulation or cellular signaling can be affected independently of heating. Determine whether any changes disrupt normal biological function, particularly in susceptible individuals. Question 11 susceptible populations Investigate susceptibilities or response thresholds that population averages could miss. Document both triggering and tolerated conditions, rapid onset, build-up and declining recovery. Account for normal functioning between episodes; a normal assessment should not automatically end an investigation.
 Question 16 Research/clinical priorities I want research that connects the physical exposure to a biological mechanism and then to a useful treatment. Please investigate: * Changes in voltage-gated calcium & sodium-channel activity. * The membrane–channel interface & factors that could alter channel sensitivity. * Calcium regulation, mitochondrial function and inherited or acquired differences that could affect susceptibility and recovery. (My hypotheses, not mechanisms I claim) 
 Investigate whether susceptibility can be reduced while preserving normal function, with independent replication and transparent reporting. PLEASE develop clinical pathways so patients and their doctors have somewhere useful to turn for evaluation and treatment. Success should mean being able to work, sleep, travel and participate in ordinary environments—not simply recovering faster after leaving them.
 I am not interested in becoming a recluse or living off-grid. I want to live my life. For people experiencing this, the need is not only an answer about exposure standards; it is an explanation of what is happening and a medically useful way to address it. If any clinicians are working on this, my email: curare.90.firs@icloud.com

I am a person disabled by exposure to radiofrequency radiation.

My health and wellbeing have been severely compromised the last three years due to emf’s. When I first noticed that I felt ill whenever I entered my house, I struggled for months to determine who would be wiling and able to assess why that was happening. Eventually I learned about building biologists, but shortly thereafter learned that none of them were in Maine. With the help of a building biologist in Virginia, I was eventually able to have my house assessed. I learned that the rf levels were extremely high. After getting rid of WiFi and operating firm Ethernet, I felt some relief for a month. Then suddenly my electric bill leaped from 200 per month to 1000. With another assessment, I learned that I have extremely high levels of dirty electricity. I lived with every fuse turned off for another year and a half to mitigate the problem. Eventually I sold that house and moved only to have a problem with dirty electricity again in the new house. Again I had another assessment done and was given suggestions to mitigate the problem. I am just beginning to implement some of the things he suggested. I have CLL, which has gotten steadily worse due to the emf issues I have had. I know that I and other EMF sensitive people are the canaries in the coal mine. We feel what others are experiencing also, but may not notice. I so wish that peoples’ health mattered more in our country than profits and venture capital,

I have electromagnetic hypersensitivity which was revealed in my former workplace when a wireless access point was installed within six feet of my desk. I began getting severe migraine headaches the day it was turned on. i didn't know it was installed and on at first. Took about a month or so before I figured out what was going on. It eventually forced me onto short term disability and then out of the job. Since then, my sensitivity has remained strong including instant migraines when cell phones are used nearby

My love for electricity left me with over a decade of undiagnosed illness. My degree in Electrical Engineering specializing in signals and systems from the prestigious UC Davis left me completely unprepared for my future health issues. The connection of detrimental human generated EMF and biological disfunction is ignored. Others with my same credentials arrogantly state there are no health connections, their education does not adequately prepare them to make such statements. After now eight years aware of this cause and 15 years dealing with severe medical deficiencies western doctors could not diagnose, I implore you to take seriously the disease we are now intentionally spewing at all biological life. My intellectual pursuits of recent years has been in understanding nourishing harmonizing beneficial frequencies and how starkly different they are to what our cellular and wifi signals now spread worldwide. Tesla referred to these human generated frequencies as retarded waves. Doctors studying the energy fields in the body often call them sub physical as they damage biological tissue. BioGeometry is the only solution I have found that is repeatable and works. After studying this qualitative science and living in two homes now corrected utilizing this technique, I feel better than I have in decades. Most people have never heard of it. Switzerland hired Ibrahim Karim who found and implemented solutions to city wide illness caused by cell towers. Similar to how big pharma has caused mass corruption in our standard healthcare system, I believe the large telecommunications industry taken over the narrative spreading false unsubstantiated claims of benign impacts of these fields being generated now everywhere. One practitioner years ago had a revelation that he has an abundance of electrical engineers as patients. It became his belief that those of us in this field of work had more exposure sooner than others and therefore have become the first wave of what will be a modern epidemic of our own making affecting all life. I implore you to correct this before we annihilate not only our species but so many other innocents as well. My primary frequency induced symptom is sensory overload to the point I cannot live in most modern communities and exhibits similarly to brain fog and staring at nothing unable to process thoughts. My nervous system and limbic system become over reactive to threats that don’t exist. I am unable to sleep. I become highly anxious at absolutely nothing and have had several chronic days long episodes of increased heart rate while laying in bed. These are severe reactions to minor frequencies most other people do not notice. This happens around high frequency low decibel audible noise, wifi, near cell towers, neighborhood transformers (involving action now from two power companies at two different homes) and in hybrid cars, I avoid EVs. I have hardwired ethernet in my home, bought a full gas vehicle, use air tube headphones, often have my phone off etc. We are destroying Gaia earth. Augmenting the now higher harmonic than the Shuman resonance. Affecting lei lines, Hartman and curry lines as well. It is an absolute disaster. Please stop the spread! Of towers and signals everywhere!!

As the Director of the Electrosensitive Society Inc I have attached my comments with respect to the need to eliminate electromagnetic pollution (particularly from wireless devices) so everyone can have access to clean living environments. Please confirm receipt of this submission.

I am an individual, a consumer and a patient. I am affected by Wi-Fi, wireless infrastructure, mobile phones, smart meters, wearable devices, and occupational equipment. I have developed chronic pain, chronic infections/illnesses, fatigue, reactivated EBV, terrible sleep issues, tingling/numbness, tinnitus, lack of or no interest in many things I once enjoyed and other issues. I along with everyone else, is constantly bombarded with electromagnetic waves penetrating our bodies. This comes from all sources as stated above, but let's start with Wi-Fi Infrastructure. I moved into a vertical condo tower after leaving my house from toxic mold. We thought this structure made of glass, steel and concrete would be safe, but it was a Wi-Fi only structure, and this was several years prior to Covid 2020. I thought the Wi-Fi only was strange but learned that new builds were this way. When Covid hit and many businesses were closed or with limited service, 5G cell phone towers were installed, and mostly in the cover of the night. There were 1297 towers and antennas within a 3 mile radius of my street address, and 8 of these under one (1) mile. And this is not including all the Wi-Fi within the vertical building but was at the time I moved from this place because I became so ill. I had to leave a home, again. At the present time, my new place of residence 377 towers and antennas but the structures are built basically on top of one another. It has It has been said, but not published, that Wi-Fi amplifies mold and mycotoxins by 600 times. I believe this. I had a blood mycotoxin test performed in late 2024 and it was red on each type. Wi-Fi is everywhere. The residence is not safe, even with safeguards. At any given time, you can see multiple listings of neighbors Wi-Fi, which could be accessible, with their passcode, inside of my residence. This not only creates health issues with the bombardment of radiation, but it also appears to me to be an Invasion of my Privacy. Now add in the Smart Meters and the mysterious health issues.... When did a private company have the right to establish this and destroy our health? and demand that the meters can't be removed? The constant scanning from the meter to a place far away creates another level of radiation that is higher than established and acceptable levels by EPA. I attempted a wearable watch which would track heart rate and other measurements as I have experiences with racing heart and palpitations. It caused burning and strange vibrations, so now I do not wear any watch. Home sleep studies are basically impossible since most of Wi-Fi based. There are many people who suffer who do not know what is causing their symptoms and their physicians are baffled and usually dismissed as being normal, with nothing wrong. Occupational equipment and mobile phones are an issue as well. Computers, Wi-Fi printers, bluetooth and remote working all creates another level of havoc when people are constantly utilizing these items. Dirty electricity and high frequency light bulbs and LEDs are also problematic when mixed into this scenario and also by themselves. I did seek medical treatment and it is continuous. And I am thankful for this, but I should not be out of pocket monies for the destruction of my health by a private company, and others which help push these agendas. We should all have safety and these items are anything BUT safe. We moved from our residence in the vertical tower and have experienced some improvement but still bombarded by constant Wi-Fi radiation which cannot be controlled. The effects are lingering and it is unknown if returning to a point of past will ever be achieved. One used to be able to go into nature to "get away" but even now, you find these ugly Wi-Fi towers and routers everywhere. And the children. They have no chance with all of these items especially during their development phases.

My name is Andy Hinson. A 199-foot cell tower has been proposed to be sited near to my home and property in the North Carolina Piedmont. My disabled mother, who resides with me, has received letters from multiple doctors, including her personal care practitioner and her neurologist, asking that the tower be sited at a different location to prevent debilitating harm. One of the letters stated that the emissions from the base station could ultimately prove fatal to my mother. My property shelters an abundance of unusual flora and fauna, including Federally Endangered species. I have received letters and studies from multiple countries around the world stating the impacts to sensitive ecosystems, which include direct mortality in plants. Drastic decline is documented in pollinating insects, which could also affect crop production. Disruptive effects on bats have been documented by Dr. Paul Racey and Dr. Oliver Lindecke. Two deaths this year in NC are attributed to West Nile Virus (of 11 reported cases in 2026) and bats are natural predators of disease vector mosquitoes. New Hampshire House Bill 1644 recommended telecommunications antennas be 1,640 feet from residentially zoned areas. Particularly sensitive individuals such as my mother may require a greater separation, such as a minimum 2000 ft setback. ADA accommodation should be given to the sick and sensitive, and in extreme cases (such as doctor letters stating potentially fatal impacts) towers should be sited at least this distance. Cell towers should not be sited where Federally Endangered species are documented to be present. Avian collisions and other biological impacts may be lessened by required co-location of antennas on existing towers within a 2-3 mile area minimum. With cell phones people have at least some scant margin of choice, but with cell towers there is none. Agencies have long ignored biological impacts to humans under the excuse that studies on non-human subjects cannot be directly correlated. Perversely, there is no regulation to protect any non-human species, despite the vast scientific evidence. At cellular frequencies in experiments, ants have shown disorientation, relocation, weakened olfactory and visual memory, altered locomotion, and colony deterioration. Adaptation to electromagnetic exposure was observed to be impossible. A UNESCO report by Australia botanist Mark Broomhall observed startling and rapid species declines at Mt. Nardi of the Australian Nightcap Range. By his estimates, 70-90% of the wildlife has become rare or disappeared altogether, which he originally attributed to climate change. But the species declines were too sudden and too localized. Eventually he came to understand that the cell tower complex atop Mt. Nardi was affecting the wildlife for a radius of 2-3 km. This explanation became inescapable when there was a sudden return of multiple species over a three day period, in what he described as a "festival of birds". Heartbreakingly, after these three remarkable days, the biological explosion ended and the species again deserted the area. These three days were the three days that the cell towers were turned off for maintenance. Various studies have recorded the exodus of species from cell tower sites. Extensive studies were conducted in Kafue National Park in Zambia, finding a “significant decrease in the counts of birds across the EMR gradient” and “The site with the least electromagnetic pollution had the highest mean count of birds”, as well as “significant higher mean counts of abandoned tree cavity nests in proximate to the phone mast.” Also, the “site with the least electromagnetic pollution had the highest mean count of insects.” The study concludes that “the effects of EMR could be the dominant predictor of distribution of terrestrial birds and insects”. Electromagnetic radiation of mobile telecommunication antennas affects the abundance and composition of wild pollinators. Studies conducted on two separate Mediterranean islands measured electromagnetic radiation at 4 distances (50, 100, 200 and 400 m) from 10 antennas (5 on Limnos Island and 5 on Lesvos Island) concluded: “Pollinators and their host plants constitute pollination networks. Although the architecture of these mutualistic networks can increase the capacity of pollinator populations to persist under harsh conditions, once a tipping point in human-induced environmental change is reached, pollinator populations may collapse simultaneously. Therefore, these changes in the composition of pollinator communities associated with electromagnetic smog may have important ecological and economic impacts on the pollination service that could significantly affect the maintenance of wild plant diversity, crop production and human welfare.”