Children & vulnerable groups

I am writing to urge the Department of Health and Human Services to fully consider all available evidence and the real-world experiences of actual people concerning the health impacts of radiofrequency (RF) radiation, electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and wireless radiation exposure on children and adults, as well as the impacts of long-term and cumulative exposure on wildlife and the environment. As our federal health agency, it is the duty and responsibility of the department to protect the public. This requires reviewing research already conducted, undertaking any additional studies as needed, and then clearly informing everyone of the health effects of the radiation and EMFs we are continually being subjected to without our consent. It also requires regulation of all corporations and any other entities responsible for the introduction and spread of these harmful technologies. They must not be allowed to jeopardize our health for their profit (or for any other reason). This issue matters to me personally because of the proliferation of cell towers, 5G installations, "smart" meters and wireless devices everywhere which we cannot get away from. The human body was not designed to cope with the effects of such frequencies. I am experiencing increased sensitivities to RF radiation and EMFs. These exposures have caused vertigo, brain fog, insomnia and other negative health consequences for me and my family members.

I am submitting this comment in response to HHS’s Request for Information on Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs), Radiofrequency (RF) Radiation, and Wireless Radiation Exposure. I am responding from the perspective of a patient and concerned member of the public. I first noticed symptoms of EMF emissions around 2013 when my electrical co-op installed smart meters for 4 adjoining townhouse units on the wall of my end unit outside my bedroom at the head of where my bed was located. I began experiencing sleep disturbances, headaches, and tinnitus that diminished when away from home and returned when at home. I would occasionally have dizzy spells. I had bouts of disorientation sometimes while driving usual routes. My doctor found no reasons for these symptoms. Between 2015 and 2018 I worked for a church which, unknown to me, had a cell tower hidden in their steeple. While working for them, I would experience tinnitus and headaches at work and began to have more frequent dizzy spells at work and home. On occasion, I had severe attacks of vertigo and nausea at work that required medication and time off from work. I suffered something like a mini-stroke that resulted in awakening to severe disorientation one morning. My doctor found no heart conditions, clotting issues, or hypertension issues. After learning of the cell tower at work in 2018, I began to suspect EMF could be causing my symptoms. I quit that job and moved to a more rural part of the state to avoid the growing number of cell towers near my condo. My symptoms decreased and I bought an EMF meter to monitor my home environment. I hard-wired my computer, and eliminated all wifi from my house. My symptoms have improved significantly. I still suffer from bleed over from my neighbors’ wi-fi and from the power lines running in front of my house. I recently spent about 2 ½ hours shopping in 3 adjacent stores within 200 yards of a newly installed cell tower and suffered the first severe bout of vertigo and nausea since leaving my job at the church with a cell tower. Since moving, I have worked at two different jobs requiring constant communication over VoiP phone systems causing constant tinnitus and headaches. I support HHS taking an active role in examining the potential health and environmental effects of wireless radiation. Questions about human health should be addressed by federal agencies with appropriate expertise in medicine, biology, epidemiology, and public health, and the experiences of individuals and families who report being affected should be considered alongside the scientific evidence. The biological effects should be studied without limit to thermal effects. I would like to see ELF become an additional priority as the magnetic fields from power lines increase my symptoms as much as RF. With data centers bringing increased need for more power and high-power lines being forced upon residential areas in nearby Virginia, I am deeply concerned about a growing cancer cluster among school children in that state just over the state line from me. The data centers also bring concerns about extremely low frequency effects on pollinators, farm animals and people. There is little existing research on these effects. I urge HHS to carefully evaluate these experiences and the scientific evidence, identify gaps in current research, give particular attention to children and other potentially vulnerable populations, and establish appropriate federal research priorities regarding wireless radiation and public health. Thank you for providing individuals and families with an opportunity to be heard. I urge HHS to carefully evaluate these experiences and the scientific evidence, identify gaps in current research, give particular attention to children and other potentially vulnerable populations—for example, those like me with autoimmune thyroid disease and Lyme disease--and establish appropriate federal research priorities regarding wireless radiation and public health. Thank you for providing individuals and families with an opportunity to be heard.

Perspective (Q2): State-licensed professional engineer; forensic engineer and expert witness. Background I am a state-licensed Professional Engineer, B.S. Civil Engineering. I perform forensic investigations and evidence collection for causation analysis, and have prepared expert reports and been cross-examined on them. In 30 years of construction and civil engineering experience, I have managed the handling, cleanup, and legal disposal of a wide variety of environmental toxins, including PCBs, lead, asbestos, hazardous chemicals, and special waste. I have U.S. NRC radiation training and have performed engineering work at U.S. nuclear power facilities. Performed close interval surveys (CIS) and direct current voltage gradient (DCVG) surveys to determine elevated voltage potentials and stray current along utility corridors. Managed pipeline current mapping (PCM) projects using RF equipment to determine current leakage and pipe construction defects. Analyzed EMF field surveys, electromagnetic modeling, counterpoise design, and corrective actions by the local power provider and railway operator to mitigate induced AC voltages on commuter railroad tracks during repair and replacement operations, protecting railway worker health and safety. Managed development and installation of devices at nuclear power plants used to monitor buried pipe networks for cathodic protection effectiveness under NRC and industry integrity programs. Performed field evaluations at nuclear power plants and other industrial sites of piping systems for electrochemical corrosion and stray current using radio frequency and electrical resistance testing equipment. Q5(p), Q7, Q8: Exposure characterization Real-world RF/EMF exposure varies continuously in power, duty cycle, pulse modulation, and compounding multi-source overlap. Most lab and animal studies, including NTP, used artificial signals from laboratory signal generators at fixed parameters, not real device emissions. Time-averaged power density and whole-body SAR do not capture peaks, pulse characteristics, duty cycle, or cumulative multi-source exposure. Assessments should measure and report them. Industry-funded RF/EMF exposure surveys and compliance testing, including cell phone carrier site compliance reports, should disclose the instrument, bandwidth, detector type (RMS vs. peak), averaging time, calibration, uncertainty, and measurement locations. Reports that omit these cannot be independently reproduced or verified. HHS should give them no weight until raw data are available for third-party review. Power-frequency magnetic fields: developers and permitting agencies cite ICNIRP’s 2010 guideline (2,000 mG) as health-based. It protects only against acute nerve stimulation, not long-term exposure. IARC classified these fields Group 2B (2002) on childhood leukemia associations near 3-4 mG, about 500 times lower. It also does not protect implanted medical devices: ICNIRP states compliance “may not necessarily preclude interference with... cardiac pacemakers and implanted defibrillators.” Q6, Q12, Q16: Weighting negative studies In forensic practice, a test that could not have detected a condition does not prove its absence. Absence of evidence from an insensitive design is not evidence of absence. The 2026 Japan and Korea “validation” studies fail that test. They departed from the NTP design in three important ways (Melnick et al., Environ Health 25, 66, 2026): Omitted high dose. They tested a single exposure level (4 W/kg) and dropped NTP’s highest level (6 W/kg), where its carcinogenic effects were most pronounced. Departed from FDA and OECD guidelines. Both require at least three dose levels plus a control for dose-response trend analysis. A single-dose design cannot detect a dose-dependent trend. Overlooked signal. Despite limited power, the Korean study found heart schwannomas in 3% of exposed rats versus 0% of controls, matching NTP’s incidence at 3 W/kg, yet the authors dismissed it. These studies cannot override the 2018 NTP two-year study (TR-595), which found “clear evidence” of malignant heart schwannomas in male rats and “some evidence” of brain gliomas and adrenal tumors. HHS should not treat a study as refuting a positive finding unless it matches or exceeds the original’s sensitivity: same animal model, comparable group sizes, multiple doses, and documented statistical power. Q16, Q17: Research priorities Fund new animal studies that repeat NTP at equal or larger scale with three or more exposure levels, run by scientists with no financial ties to the wireless industry or to the bodies that set the limits being tested. Fund exposure studies that replicate real-world conditions: variable signals from actual phones, routers, and towers, and compounding exposure from many simultaneous devices in high-occupancy settings such as classrooms. Require studies HHS relies on to disclose who funded and advised them.

I am submitting this comment in response to HHS’s Request for Information on Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs), Radiofrequency (RF) Radiation, and Wireless Radiation Exposure. I am responding from the perspective of a patient. I support HHS taking an active role in examining the potential health and environmental effects of wireless radiation. Questions about human health should be addressed by federal agencies with appropriate expertise in medicine, biology, epidemiology, and public health, and the experiences of individuals and families who report being affected should be considered alongside the scientific evidence. My experience began with a garmin smartwatch. It was a gift. I was hesitant to access the Bluetooth feature for the first year or two. When I got a new iPhone I connected it and decided to try the Bluetooth feature. After seven months I had three different skin issues on the back of my left hand. One of them was diagnosed as squamous carcinoma and required surgical removal. I stopped wearing my watch after the July biopsy. My sister also had squamous carcinoma on the back of her left hand. It would be wise for HHS to investigate these instances to protect individuals from unwittingly exposing themselves to potentially harmful situations. I urge HHS to carefully evaluate these experiences and the scientific evidence, identify gaps in current research, give particular attention to children and other potentially vulnerable populations, and establish appropriate federal research priorities regarding wireless radiation and public health. Thank you for providing individuals and families with an opportunity to be heard.

Those suffering from Electrohypersensitivity (EHS) receive no accommodations though it is very disabling. Every effort by HHS should be made to involve those federal agencies who can promote the much needed accommodations EHS persons need. There are motels with handicapped rooms. EHS persons cannot travel because sleep away from wifi radiation is not available. Schools are the most difficult of all for children forcing them into home school alone.

On Christmas Day, 1991 I had my first encounter with radiofrequency electromagnetic fields. My 2 yr old handed me a present-it was a flip phone.  When I made my first call, the energy vibrated up my arm & my head. My body had a strong, visceral reaction.  The moment's captured on video, so you can see my unplanned reaction. When I asked others how they could hold their phone to their ear while it zapped them, I realized I was an outlier. I started to connect my symptoms and use of the phone: extreme headaches, numbness, tingling, insomnia, anxiety-palpitations & brain fog.  When WiFi arrived it became extremely clear; WiFi nearby made me feel so unwell, it had to be turned off if I was within 50 ft. What began as a personal quest became a professional mission. For the past two decades, I have focused on public awareness & education in the area of digital wellness. Through websites, published articles, video content & public speaking engagements, I have informed audiences on the realities of how technology is affecting us and how to stay safer and healthier with it. I’ve had to build my whole life around accommodating the functional impairment of electrohypersensitivity (EHS). I don’t live close to cell towers. I don’t have a WiFi in my home, I have a wired ethernet connection. My home has a metal roof. I use RF-EMF blocking material, including a sleep canopy, and more. I drive a 2010 car with no wireless & use a EMF blocking cocoon wrap when exposure is unavoidable. Not everyone has this luxury. Not everyone knows they’re reacting. I’ve consulted hundreds of people who cannot break leases or move when they encountered the negative effects of RF-EMF. Many feel constantly surrounded by EMF without any relief from debilitating pain. The land of the free often presents as a prison for those who are most sensitive to EMF. My lived experience with EHS, is why I urge immediate consideration & protection for all sensitive groups, including children, people with chronic illness & people with EHS.  The reality is, even if someone does not physically feel the effects of EMF, that doesn’t mean they aren’t impacted at a biological level. In fact, there are already hundreds of peer-reviewed studies that link EMF to other negative biological effects like cancer, autism, thyroid nodules, insomnia, infertility. These scoping studies cannot be ignored (links below): The US National Toxicology Program claims on its Government site: Clear evidence of association with heart tumors male rats and some evidence of brain, and adrenal tumors. A 2025 review commissioned by WHO found Man-Made Wireless EMF Radiation causes Brain Cancer and Heart Cancer.  The evidence from 52 studies was assessed. The certainty of the evidence for an"increased risk of glioma or brain cancer, was judged as high.” The ICBE-EMF review revealed current safety limits for wireless EMF are severely inadequate to protect public health. Wydaeghe et. al. simulation of the FCC’s Maximum Permissible Exposure showed that in the worst-case scenario, a 6 year old boy can absorb wireless energy from a typical cellphone tower that is 45% more than the current FCC limits actually allow. Simulated 5G towers found exposure could reach 158% of the limits. Chokeli et.al looked at genotoxic biomarkers in children that had cell towers 100 to 400 meters from their schools. The closer they were the more biomarkers related to DNA damage and cancer, the kids had. A recent study published in Cureus Journal of Medical Science found significant associations between levels of wireless radiofrequency (RF) radiation exposure in the home and child development. I hear the same comment repeatedly from my community, “My kids don’t sleep well when the WiFi is on.” A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover pilot study points to the same conclusion: participants reported poorer sleep when exposed to radiation from a wireless baby monitor as compared to a “sham.” While more research is helpful, we already have more than enough convicting studies. Therefore the federal priorities at this point must employ risk management measures relying on current research, enacting laws to protect our youngest and most sensitive Americans while further studies are take place. As a mother with an adorable grandson, I often think, “Why does France care more about the effects of RF-EMF on children than my country does?”  For over a decade, children under 3 in France have been guaranteed a pre-school without the impact of WiFi.  For kids 3 to 11, parents are assured that the WiFi will remain off when it’s not used for digital education. Law #2015-136 also says any public establishment in France that has WiFi must clearly signal its presence.   An amazingly effective first step would be to pass a law like France’s. Imagine happier kids, more present teachers. This basic protection for kids is literally the least we can do. 

I’m negatively affected by emfs, rf and wifi signals. It causes me to have rapid heart rate, palpitations, brain fog, insomnia and headaches. There needs to be some serious investigations and restrictions put in place, especially for sake of our children. They are extremely vulnerable to negative consequences to their growing bodies and brains. Investigate smart meters too. Those are horrible for everyone’s health and safety.

Lived less than .5 mile from a stacked tower for 5 years. Ended up extremely sick from a house full of mold and severe chronic lyme that worsened signficantly. Now cannot be near any towers and am extremely sensitized to emf, cannot sleep with wifi on, reduce cell phone use as much as possible. Being near towers causes headaches, dizziness, nausea, rage, tightness in chest, tense body all over. Cannot find a safe place to live because towers are all near residential buildings. Sioux falls sd has towers on nearly every single school property. I am unsure of where I can safely send my child to school. No child should be exposed to emf on their school property or at home as radiation on kids has not been studied at all. My child suffers every time we are near a tower. Please end radiation poisioning and data centers. This is not the life I choose for myself or for my child. I do not consent to poisioning of any kind, chemtrails, food, water, emf, I do not consent to any harm forced upon by the government. It must end now.

To HHS, I experience symptoms such as headaches, heart racing, palpitations, irritability, and insomnia when exposed to wireless signals. I live in a shielded home with no wireless inside to help minimize exposure. I'm concerned that the United States has not adopted sufficiently precautionary policies to minimize public exposure to wireless radiation, particularly for people who report sensitivity. Other countries have demonstrated that stronger protective measures are possible. For example, France restricts the installation and use of wireless internet equipment in certain childcare settings and requires Wi-Fi in primary school classrooms to be switched off when not used for educational activities. Some European countries have also adopted stricter radio frequency exposure limits or additional protections for sensitive locations. I believe the United States should carefully examine these international approaches and consider stronger protections for public health. Section 704 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 restricts local governments from regulating cell tower placement based on the environmental effects of compliant radio frequency emissions, and I disagree with that restriction. Communities should be able to consider health concerns when deciding where towers go. Thank you for your consideration. Dianna Suslo

Please stop the spread of cell towers. Please keep USA safe.Kids and adults should not live in fear of cell towers surrounding their schools and living spaces .