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 person who has been personally affected by this exposure.
I am 73 years old, and have been suffering from health issues, mostly digestive, since I was 50. In my health journey I finally found a naturopathic doctor who knew how to help me about 5 years ago. After making many changes to reduce my exposure to toxins in my environment, there came a point that she told me that she told me that my biggest obstacle to health was now wireless radiation and that she would not be able to help me further until I addressed my exposure to EMFs. That was the first time I even heard of this. She put me in touch with an expert who guided me in the purchase of a special router that goes into standby mode if Wi-Fi was turned off on all devices and the purchase of a meter to detect exposures. I also hard-wired all devices that I could and turned off Wi-Fi settings at night. I stopped using the microwave completely when I saw how much radiation it emitted. I bought radiation blocking covers for our cell phones and stopped using earbuds. I was fortunate that my condo is not located near a cell phone tower but because I am in a condo, I am affected by my neighbors somewhat. After these changes, I noticed a big difference in my ability to sleep through the night. On nights that my husband forgot to turn his cell phone settings off, I felt my heart pounding at night and when I got up, invariably found that one of his devices had not been turned off. As I get healthier inside, I find I am much more sensitive to these exposures, which are getting stronger and stronger as technology evolves. This is such an important issue, and most people don’t know anything about it and/or don’t believe that companies would be allowed to sell products that are harmful to human life.
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.
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, families, health care providers, researchers and scientists with an opportunity finally be heard on this critical public health issue.
In September of 2021 I had an unfortunate accident requiring metal plates to be surgically attached to my scull. The injury had also left me with nerve damage.
During my recovery, I noticed I was becoming hyper sensitive to RF and other frequencies.
When traveling on roads and highways, it became evident that upon approaching cell towers, my face, where the metal plates are located, became inflamed. I could feel a burning sensation and my face would literally heat up. The further away from the towers I got, the less discomfort I felt though each encounter had lasting effects. On a long road trip, the affects were cumulative as approaching and passing by tower after tower left its unwelcome marks.
After 5 years, I am able to predict when my phone might ring or receive a notification before it rings by the burning in my face.
Had it not been for my injury, I might never have known how these frequencies might be affecting us all.
Just because you may not be able to feel it happening as I do, does not mean that you are not being affected as well.
I do not know what the long term ramifications are but it is obviously taking a toll on my quality of life.
I am posting this with the hope my statement may serve to help others.
Thank you for this opportunity.
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.
Wireless radiation affects me every day of my life. I have to restrict time on the cell phone, computer, and need to avoid areas outside with too much emf's. This is an illness of hypersensitivity to environmental factors including emfs. I have had this since 1990 and too much emf makes me sick and weak. It is hard to avoid because it is so prevalent everywhere. I have to retreat to my home where I have less exposure and can recover. Each time the cell phones change to a higher G it gets worse. If Cell towers were too near my home it would have devastating health affects. It is imperative that HHS address this issue.
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.
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 am very strongly opposed to these cell towers, especially 6G. I have to use my cell phone with corded headphones or on speaker because I get a massive headache every time I hold it up to my ear. My daughter is also very sensitive to EMF and sleeps much better when we turn our Wifi off at night.
Questions 3, 11, 16 and 18 – Lived experience of EHS
I am submitting this response from the UK as an individual with EHS. I am in my mid-fifties and developed EHS in my forties. It became severe enough to fundamentally change where and how I live and work.
Q3 – Personal experience
My symptoms varied with the type, intensity and duration of exposure, and my sensitivity appeared cumulative. Severe reactions included intense headaches progressing to migraine-like episodes, extreme sensitivity to light and sound, inability to eat, feeling physically out of balance, weakness and exhaustion. I could be confined to bed for 2–3 days before gradually recovering.
A significant source of RF/EMF exposure was a cell tower in the paddock I rented for my horses. Over time it carried equipment from approximately six providers. For years I spent around five hours daily within 100 metres of it. Once highly sensitive, I reduced this to about two hours daily, the minimum needed to care for my horses.
I also experienced severe abdominal cramps, particularly in association with smart meters, episodes of slurred speech and serious cognitive problems. My short-term memory could disappear to the point that I had no recollection of what I had just said. I sometimes became defensive or unusually irritable when challenged about things I could not remember.
At my most sensitive I could not sit in front of a computer screen or be near a mobile phone without symptoms. When cumulative exposure was high, even proximity to a phone in flight mode could sometimes trigger symptoms.
I became unable to think clearly, was physically weak and exhausted, and for years could not work or earn a living. I could no longer attend my children's school meetings, shop, visit the doctor or dentist without exposure becoming a problem, or socialise normally. I lost almost all my friendships because I could no longer visit people's homes or meet in wireless public environments. EHS also placed considerable strain on my marriage and has played a significant part in its breakdown.
By 2019 I was living with profound fatigue virtually 24/7 and my quality of life had become unbearable. My family and I relocated from Hampshire to rural Mid Wales specifically so I could create an extremely low-EMF environment and attempt to recover.
For approximately four years much of my life was devoted to rebuilding my health, strength and stamina. It was a very slow process, but living with greatly reduced exposure allowed me eventually to begin working again.
I now operate a business from home. Although considerably stronger, I have not returned to my former life. I generally cannot spend more than around half a day in higher-exposure environments before needing to return home to recover.
Exposure affects my nervous system. I use breathwork, particular foods and physical exercises, which help me manage temporarily but do not remove my sensitivity. I still need my very low-exposure home environment, where my body can settle and recover; working with my land and animals also helps me ground.
My experience led me to establish The Wireless-Free Farm on our 17.5-acre smallholding in Mid Wales. It is intentionally maintained wireless-free because this remains the environment I need to live and work. We also welcome guests, including people with EHS who struggle to find suitable accommodation.
The Wireless-Free Farm is not a lifestyle choice or rejection of technology. It is the practical outcome of the adaptations I had to make to regain a workable life.
Q11 & Q16 – Sensitive populations and research
I encourage HHS to investigate people with EHS as a potentially sensitive population. Few genuinely low-exposure environments remain, making it difficult for affected people to avoid exposure sufficiently to observe changes.
Research should examine cumulative and multiple-source exposure, proximity, duration, pulsed/modulated signals and individual variation, including before and after substantial RF/EMF reduction. People who have reorganised their lives around exposure reduction and low-exposure environments may provide valuable research opportunities.
Q18 – Recommendation
Please listen carefully to people living with this condition. My experience alone cannot establish scientific causation, but experiences such as mine should not be dismissed because mechanisms remain uncertain.
I went from an ordinary, active life to being unable to work, socialise normally or participate fully in society. I had to relocate and redesign my living environment. Reducing my exposure was followed by substantial, although gradual, improvement.
Rigorous, independent research is urgently needed. This is not an abstract debate about technology. It affects where we can live, work, travel, receive healthcare, maintain relationships and participate in society.
I live part time in Maine and part time in Massachusetts, on Cape Cod. I started the commute in 2020. I can feel the difference in my body and my mind in each state. It is/was DRASTIC. However, it got really bad this year. When I spent extended periods of time seated in Massachusetts, then got up to do something, I felt like I was going to passout. Just when I thought I was okay, I experienced a power failure in my legs. This only happened when I was on Cape Cod. Then one day, I saw a new 6G tower less than a mile from my home. I made a hat out of Aluminum foil. When I wear it, it NEVER happens. I am sensitive to EMF. I can hear 4G. It is cranked. I am positive that 3G caused my Father's heart attack, 4G caused my Mother's Vertigo, 5G caused mass fatal crashes along our highways, and 6G breaks the Blood Brain Barrier!
My health issues began when I lived about 1/4 mile from a cell tower and began using a cell phone. I now have multiple chemical sensitivity and electrosensitivity. I have had to make drastic changes in order to continue working and try to be well. It is increasingly difficult to do so with most utilities using smart meters and increasing numbers of satellites beaming EMF to the earth. Those who are more sensitive are the canaries in the coal mine, predicting the health issues to come for those less sensitive. Please put restrictions on EMF exposure in neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, etc. to protect us and future generations.
Abigail Haberman MD
thank you for this opportunity
When 5G was introduces several years ago in Santa Barbara where I live I developed mild to moderate symptoms of tinnitus.
It took a couple months to realize this was happening, but at some point I distinctly remember noticing I was not hearing the background sounds I used to hear when it was really quiet outside; insect noises esp. at dusk and sunrise, far away train noises, high flying aircraft, quiet bird chirps, chipmunks, squirrels quarreling etc. All I was getting was a low background hum tone that was louder than the quiet sounds that were always there in the past and I discovered my personal tinnitus.
This alarmed me. I went for several years in this state resigned to the "progress" and savoring I still had hearing at all as some cases of tinnitus I read about were brutal by comparison to my symptoms.
Our house has used wifi for computers since before 5G came out without a noticeable effect on my hearing, but I thought to switch to Ethernet cabling and stopped using the wifi router to see if there was an improvement to my hearing and to validate my thought that I was sensitive to the EMF radiation.
Sure enough, in a couple of weeks, the tinnitus resolved a little and I started very occasionally hearing the faint sounds in the world again, esp. when I woke up in the early morning.
My tinnitus is still present 99.9%+ of the time in my ears, but I do occasionally get to experience some relief from tinnitus.
Increasing the amount of EMF in this high frequency area of spectrum is very likely to negatively affect me personally and is something I do not want the govt. to allow.
thank you for taking comments.
Bill Palmisano
Re: RFI Docket response on EMF & EMR comments
Re: FCC’s failure to set safe guidelines for EMR exposure. This includes cell phones, all ‘Smart’ devices including smart meters, cell towers, cell repeating units, WIFI in buildings, outside WIFI repeaters, automobile EMR emitting devices, etc.
The FCC or any agency that sets safety standards for all these devices need to do thorough scientific studies, but in the meantime, they must mitigate the levels of EMR from ALL devices. Re-tooling is required, no doubt, but it’s the FCC’s fault for allowing the level of EMR being emitted from the start.
When cell phones first came out, the telecom industry warned its shareholders that they may be sued for injuries from people who were harmed by the devices. They never warned the customers buying the phones! This is blatant disregard for human health and safety.
I have had EHS (also called EMR Syndrome) for over 12 years, all due to the exponential rollout of cell phones/towers, WIFI, and Smart Meters. My life went from normal to very ill in a short period of time. It took me a while to find out it was EHS. When exposed to EMR, I experience heart arrhythmias, an allover weak feeling, my legs feel very heavy suddenly (almost always a Smart Meter for that symptom), migraines, tinnitus, and sometimes stinging of the skin depending upon the level of EMR. If I don’t get away from the exposure quickly, I feel like I’ll pass out.
I purchased a Safe & Sound Pro 2 EMF meter to discover where it is safe for me (lower EMF’s). The meter is certified and calibrated, and I can confirm that there are hardly any places left where the levels are truly safe. The safety standard I use is OSHA Standard for EMF exposure for Telecom workers:
https://cwa-union.org/sites/default/files/osh-fact-sheet-16-microwave_and_radio_frequency_radiation.pdf
10 mW/cm(2) (milliwatt hour per square centimeter) for periods of 0.1 hour or more.
Literally, I have NEVER found readings that are that low except deep in the woods away from homes, towers, and industry. All readings are higher. Smart Meters have been mostly 22,000 mW/sqMeter(intermittently). A parking lot near us presents readings between 12,000 to 1 Million mW/sqMeter! People are being bathed in this excessive exposure every time they go to that shopping center. Cancer, heart issues, brain issues, etc. - all are side effects of this deleterious exposure. It’s just a matter of time…. Day after day, people are dying from all the diseases caused by EMR. We have a dear friend who has brain cancer from holding the cellphone near their ear. Schools that have cell towers near them have been encountering students with cancer; some actually have died!
It’s a fact that Autism rates have climbed at the same time EMR exposure has climbed. Pregnant women holding their cellphones on their belly are not warned against this, which is criminal, in my opinion.
The FCC was ordered by the Court to re-evaluate safe exposure limits for EMR, and they have blatantly avoided doing so. They know exposure levels are WAY too high now and would be lying if they described a high level as safe, so they’re simply avoiding doing what they were ordered to do. The FCC is a captured agency and the people allowing the exposures from cellphones, towers, etc. need to be fired. People with morals need to replace these ‘officials’.
If 5G is put up in the area where I live, I could end up living in my basement and never be able to go out again. It would be like being in prison. Is this what the telecom industry wants? Is this what the FCC wants? Is this what HHS wants? There are tens of thousands of people suffering with EHS in dozens of support groups (mostly on social media) communicating around the planet. They are all desperate for relief from this deadly exposure. If you question these principles of exposure, just look into the “Havana Syndrome”. This is a well-documented illness caused by high levels of EMR.
It’s time for our government to wake up and stop ignoring this. We are desperate to have our good health back. There are hundreds if not thousands of scientific studies proving the harm of EMR.
If you have one iota of care for the citizens of these beloved United States, you will DO something to fully correct the long-evaded issue of extreme EMR exposure to everyone!
I will attempt to attach several studies that prove the harm.
Thank you for taking this seriously! It’s long overdue.
As an individual consumer living in Australia, I would ask that the Department of Health and Human Services redefine the safe limits of radiation we now currently experience. I suffer from EHS (electrical hypersensitivity) so I experience first hand, the dangers of the levels we are at. This radiation also accumulates and never leaves our atmosphere. In future generations, this could mean annihilation of our species.