Occupational exposure

Question 2 — Perspective I am responding as an individual consumer with personal experience that I believe may be relevant to the evaluation of RF/EMF exposure and potential health effects. Question 3 — Personal experience I have experienced what I perceive to be sensitivity to RF/wireless environments, particularly Wi-Fi and environments with multiple wireless devices. My experience has been that prolonged exposure to Wi-Fi or other wireless environments is sometimes followed by significant fatigue and brain fog. In some situations, I notice symptoms after approximately two hours of exposure. I have also noticed more immediate symptoms in certain higher-wireless environments. For example, when riding inside a Tesla vehicle, I have experienced a headache after approximately 15 minutes. I have also experienced headaches when sitting relatively close to an active Wi-Fi access point. In an office environment with numerous wireless and electronic devices, I have sometimes experienced substantial fatigue and brain fog toward the end of the workday. I have noticed that these experiences are less pronounced when I can reduce my exposure to wireless sources. I recognize that these observations are personal experiences and do not, by themselves, establish that RF/EMF exposure caused the symptoms. Other factors could potentially contribute to fatigue, headaches, or cognitive symptoms. However, the recurring relationship I have personally observed between particular wireless environments and the onset of symptoms is significant enough to me that I believe it warrants further scientific investigation. I believe research should examine not only short-term exposure and average exposure levels, but also the effects of prolonged, repeated, and cumulative exposure in real-world environments. Question 8 — Exposure assessment I believe additional research is needed to determine whether current methods of assessing RF exposure adequately represent real-world individual exposure. A person's exposure can vary substantially depending on distance from the source, duration of exposure, number of wireless sources operating simultaneously, signal strength, modulation characteristics, and whether the individual is in a vehicle, workplace, home, or other enclosed environment. Research should investigate whether measurements based primarily on population averages or compliance testing adequately capture the exposure experienced by individuals who spend many hours in environments containing multiple wireless devices. Question 9 — Information disclosed to consumers Consumers should have access to clear and easily understandable information about wireless devices and environments, including operating frequencies, maximum and typical transmitted power, exposure characteristics, recommended separation distances, SAR where applicable, and information about simultaneous or cumulative exposure from multiple wireless sources. Consumers should also be able to make informed choices between wired and wireless connectivity where practical. For example, information about Wi-Fi access points, wireless-enabled appliances, smart-home devices, and other RF-emitting equipment would help consumers understand their potential exposure and make choices appropriate for their circumstances. Question 13(c) — Wi-Fi I recommend additional research specifically examining Wi-Fi exposure under realistic residential and workplace conditions, including prolonged exposure, proximity to access points, multiple access points operating simultaneously, multiple devices communicating concurrently, and cumulative exposure over many hours. Research should also examine whether individual responses to Wi-Fi exposure vary substantially and whether there are identifiable characteristics of individuals who report symptoms in proximity to wireless sources. Question 16 — Research priorities I believe research priorities should include: 1. Long-term and cumulative RF/EMF exposure rather than only short-duration exposure. 2. Real-world exposure measurement rather than relying solely on laboratory or compliance conditions. 3. Individual variability in reported responses to RF/EMF exposure. 4. Exposure to multiple RF sources simultaneously. 5. The relationship between distance from a wireless source and reported symptoms. 6. The relationship between duration of exposure and reported symptoms. 7. Objective, reproducible methods for studying individuals who report symptoms associated with wireless exposure. 8. Research that can distinguish RF/EMF-related effects from other potential causes of symptoms such as noise, lighting, temperature, stress, sleep deprivation, or other environmental factors.

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 concerned member of the public who has personally experienced symptoms that I believe may be associated with exposure to wireless devices. For several years, I have experienced a recurring and increasingly concerning problem involving wireless devices, particularly when they are used near my hands. When I use my cell phone for an extended period of time, my right hand begins to develop a pronounced tingling sensation. At times, it becomes difficult and uncomfortable to text, type, or even scroll on the phone. On some occasions, I have needed to wrap a cloth around the phone in order to continue using it. I experience a similar problem with my wireless computer mouse at work. After using it for a period of time, my right hand begins to tingle and becomes uncomfortable enough that I have difficulty using the mouse. I have repeatedly had to disconnect the wireless mouse and switch to a wired mouse in order to continue working. I am actually experiencing this tingling in my right hand while writing this comment. What concerns me most is the recurring pattern. The symptoms occur during prolonged use of wireless devices in close proximity to my hand, and I have found that switching to a wired device allows me to continue using the equipment without the same problem. I recognize that my personal experience does not establish the cause of these symptoms, but I believe the pattern deserves to be taken seriously and investigated. I also work in a school environment, where I regularly see children using wireless technology, including cell phones, tablets, computers, and wireless headphones. This has made me increasingly concerned about the amount of wireless radiation to which children may be exposed throughout their daily lives. In addition to personal devices, people are surrounded by wireless infrastructure, including cell towers and increasingly widespread 5G technology. We are living in an environment of substantially greater and more continuous wireless exposure than previous generations experienced. I have researched my symptoms and found that I am not the only person who reports experiencing unusual sensations or other symptoms associated with wireless-device exposure. While I understand that individual experiences and anecdotal reports are not a substitute for scientific evidence, I believe they should be taken seriously as a reason to conduct further research and investigate unanswered questions. 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 have been sick from radiation since Wi-Fi first came to my home in 2005. It started slowly the sleepless, then later came the pain that has stayed with me until today. I cannot be with my Wi-Fi on and it's hard for me to live in an apartment. It's also hard to work. But what is most difficult is the lack of acknowledgment from doctors and medical providers. You have to essentially "prove" your illness to people. Imagine feeling horrible constantly and having pork tell you there isn't anything wrong. That you cannot possible be sick from radiation because there is "no research" to prove otherwise. So you hide in EMF support groups and find solace in deserted places. I hope someone reads this who can hear us. There are so many sick

I am electromagnetically sensitive. I bought a monitor to the Swedish standards in the early 80s which I could work on, but when my employer adopted computers in the late 80s there was no shielding. I had to leave. In the early 2000s I wired my house for ethernet cables and used shielded computers, but now there are cell towers encroaching on my house spreading cell signals RIGHT inside my home! I don`t use a cell phone but that does not protect me from everyone else`s cell towers. My daughter is far more electromagnetically sensitive than I am, We do not use a microwave and everything is ethernet or wired but she still got cancer from the cell towers encroaching more and more everywhere, including upon our home. There are no safe places anymore. I have severely disabled friends who have either died or are dying because of there being no safe places anywhere without cell towers where they can get food, water and sanitation. Now they are trying to take our landlines!!! They don`t want to maintain the wires for our phones! But we depend on wired phones! The captured regulators insist that the only harmful effects are thermal, which ignores decades of research and our lived experience. I consider anyone who uses a cell phone to be complicit in the murder of people I know and valued, included activists who were trying to educate the public. Like the tobacco firms before them, the tech firms are casting doubt on the real research, and regulators turn a blind eye to the harms because this industry brings in so much money and is so powerful a lobby. See Dr. Olle Johansson`s work and the Cellular Task Force, see the Bio Initiative Reports (https://bioinitiative.org/), see many other sources. Ask those suffering from the impacts and those who have no safe place to survive because cell towers are everywhere now and who are dying as a result. No one is counting their deaths. Some are now also cut off from all medical care because clinics and hospitals are contaminated with wifi and cell towers and cell phones. These people are marginalized and can not access work or incomes due to employers using wifi and cell phones and with towers on their buildings or across the street, so they have no way to save themselves anymore. EVERYTHING can be done with wired devices and it should be required that people do so. Convenience at the cost of killing off a % of the population that are the canaries is genocide and will eventually take down the rest of the population with them. And now the absolute insanity of tampering with the ionosphere and the earth`s natural electromagnetics could cause an extinction level event, including from satellites beaming destruction from above. Not to speak of blanketing the atmosphere with microwaves and not expecting that to cause fires and increase the warming of the planet -- and doing so from space of all things! The Roman Empire collapsed partly because it was using technologies that were convenient but which it didn`t understand fully -- like lead pipes in aquaducts. We are doing the same thing with electromagnetic radiation. You see convenience but you don`t want to see the poison that may well collapse our society.

I am a 67 year old retired Navy and airline pilot. Throughout my airline career I struggled sleeping in hotel rooms that were near a freeway. My guess is I am sensitive to the vibration. My life suddenly got a lot worse in 2018, the year 5G started coming online. It was getting more and more difficult to sleep in my new home and in hotels for work. Every year over the past 8 years it has only gotten worse. My cellular and WiFi sensitivities present themselves as a low frequency rumble that varies in intensity almost like an idling semi truck. Wearing noise canceling headphones does not eliminate it so I know it is not sound related. My wife or visitors cannot hear what I am sensing. It is at its worse when I lie down at bedtime. I am unable to relax to fall asleep. The signal stimulates my nervous system and my heart. I currently disconnect all devices in the house from cellular and WiFi. I power off my router and sleep in a bed with a canopy of fabric lined with silver and copper that drapes to the floor and rests on a floor mat made of the same material. It is not perfect but so far I seem to be sleeping better. A year ago I started a new job that requires me to work in a large city. This is a city with rough terrain. I assume that is why they have erected cell towers almost everywhere, even in neighborhoods. I had to go through 6 hotels before I could find one I could sleep in. One of the worst sleep experiences I had was a hotel that had a suite. All night I would move the mattress to different parts of the room to try and escape the signal. I basically had zero sleep that night. The next morning I started looking around the hotel for the large cell tower I knew must be nearby. In the front of the hotel on the street was a strange small antenna slightly higher than a light pole. I used AI to try to determine what this new antenna was. It is called a Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS). They seem to be on every other block in many of the neighborhoods in this city. Many are disguised as palm trees or cacti. It is suppose to eliminate dead zones for cell service. I believe it is the same technology used to distribute cell service in large buildings and stadiums. I have started traveling with a mylar tent which helped quite a bit but it is very hot and uncomfortable to sleep in. I finally found a basic old hotel surrounded on two sides by a very large wilderness area with no nearby cell towers and no DAS towers. The company I work for has a preferred hotel but I was not able to sleep there. I went through the process to get a medical HR accommodation so I can stay at this hotel as long as I am willing to pay the difference in cost. It is the only hotel I have found in this city that I can sleep in. Many times over the past 8 years I have felt hopeless and have wondered how I will be able to cope if cell towers are allowed to continue to spread and are allowed to be made more powerful. I cringe when I see an ad promoting 5G internet service into your home. I hope none of my neighbors will use that service but I am sure the pricing from cell companies will make it financially the preferred choice (no more underground lines to upkeep). I recently read that STARLINK received permission to expand their system by 100,000 more satellites. Don’t know if there will be anywhere on earth I will be able to go to escape that. I cannot express how grateful I am to be asked to provide details on how Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs), Radiofrequency (RF) Radiation, and Wireless Radiation Exposure is destroying my quality of life. It raises my hopes that people may finally realize how harmful and toxic to our environment these technologies are. Please feel free to reach out to me if further input or involvement would be helpful.

Question number two: I am a healthcare professional responding as an individual based on my own clinical observations. Question number three: a) All noted forms of exposure except wearables, unless that would include a pacemaker, and occupational equipment. B) The nature of exposure is through common household, business, and individual devices with frequency as per normal daily life. I do question if initial exposure could have been in my workplace of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the hospital I worked due to onset of adverse symptoms specific to that location and time beginning in 1990, that resolved when those restrictions were removed. Future adverse effects were noted with the growth of prevalence in normal society over the decades. Adverse effects multiplied with increased use of cell phones, including non smart flip versions, proximity to cell towers and use of cellular devise with decrease of symptoms noted with ending call and increasing proximity of both from person, personal devices used in home, places of business and worship. All of theses being experienced from late 1990 to present in increasing degrees. There is one other possible exposure that would date back to the 1970’s and continue to present. Even as a young child I noticed an odd sensation when at a particular home that was adjacent to very large power lines. C). Adverse effects noted are hot and cold temperature variations, an off balance feeling of being pushed, feeling of anger or uneasiness for no reason, hearing high pitched noises in one or both ears, feeling of floor or myself vibrating, not feeling like myself, increased blood pressure during these experiences, tingling of hands and arms, especially when holding a cell phone or iPad with increase noted in association of updates to software where as time to tingling decreased from needing approximately thirty minutes or more exposure to approximately immediate or proximity to a cell tower, electric shocks ranging from minor such as is noted when flipping a light switch to taking my breath away and causing me to scream out, brain fog, fatigue, difficulty sleeping, presyncope to degree of fear with driving my children, increased heart rate and respiratory rate, feeling of needing to flee an area but with no noticeable threat, general chaos feeling inside my body, soreness, inability to move arm or neck, menstrual difficulties, and a particular sensation when near electrical devises that are making a humming sound such as an induction stove top, a surge protector, speaker, electrical panel, and on certain locations of a departing airplane. I cannot say this is an exhaustive list. D). As above and noticeable changes have emerged as exposures have grown with attention to wireless devices, increase of use such as in areas that have more or more powerful devices, during nuclear stress testing, after smart meter installation, this spring after fiber installation on my road, and within five minutes of mammogram. E). Medical evaluation was sought specifically for some of the above symptoms beginning approximately 2007. It was continually dismissed until 2017. At my demand of assessment and treatment, heart block was identified progressing to complete heart block within weeks and resulted in placement of pacemaker. This began an ongoing event of more symptoms with greater severity of some, new ones, with alleviation or improvement of some, including two more surgeries resulting in a complete new pacemaker system being placed at eleven months post initial one. More medical evaluation was sought in approximately 2021 in correlation with an episode of whole body vibration, uneasy increasing to anxiousness, tingling of hand while holding phone, and anger noted with use of flip cell phone as never experienced before. My MD questioned specifically if I knew how close to a cell tower I was as these symptoms increased and culminated. I was able to identify that I was parked within feet of a cell tower and that symptoms subsided once I threw the phone away from my body and drove away as to increasing proximity to tower. Since, I have continued to seek medical care for these symptoms with a renewed emphasis since about 2024 where I noticed an increase in virtually all but particularly the onset of drenching night sweats, sleep disturbance, extreme menstrual abnormalities, and fatigue while staying in an air B n B where there was a loud humming noise every morning at the power meter that was coincidentally on the outside of the wall where I slept. Again, this is probably not exhaustive. F) As noted in E above. G) I have no supporting documentation without securing my medical record.

I was working in a small office with a huge electrical board behind me, AND driving a car with blue tooth, AND Router, electric meter, etc. I was about to lose my job, because my brain was not functioning properly, until I figured it all out. I covered the ele3ctric board with foil, stopped using bluetooth, and covered the router and meter, and took iodine. It changed my life. Forever.

“I worked for a telecommunications company for 30 years. I was dismissed after raising concerns that electromagnetic fields from mobile phones and the strong GSM signals in company laptops were causing me health problems, including headaches, confusion, and sleep disruption.”

My thyroid levels are normal for the first time in 20 years since turning off wifi at night and getting an hour of sun everyday. I was told to purchase medicine forever to compensate but I discovered a simple protocol after talking to a few other people with thyroid issues. One of my friends had to get their thyroid removed at 30 yrs old after working in a broadcasting tower and developing thyroid issues. I just figured the thyroid is the most sensitive organ to radiation so I should protect it . Now my lab tests confirm my anecdotal theory.

SCIENCE SHOULD FOLLOW THE SIGNAL We live in an electromagnetic universe. Every day, Earth receives signals from space, including radio waves from distant astronomical objects. We also use satellites, radar, telecommunications, Wi-Fi, and countless other technologies that rely on electromagnetic energy. The answer to questions about electromagnetic fields (EMFs), radiofrequency (RF) radiation, and wireless exposure will not be found in fear, speculation, or political slogans. It will be found in good science. As a healthcare professional, I strongly support HHS conducting a rigorous, independent, evidence-based review. We should examine actual exposure levels, frequencies, power densities, duration, modulation, cumulative exposure, and potential biological effects. We should study long-term exposure, children, occupational risks, and emerging technologies. We should distinguish biological effects from demonstrated health hazards, correlation from causation, and plausible hypotheses from reproducible findings. We should also acknowledge what remains uncertain. Science does not dismiss legitimate questions. It investigates them. Science does not manufacture certainty. It measures, tests, replicates, and challenges. We should not fear the signal. We should understand it. I encourage researchers, physicians, engineers, and members of the public to submit credible evidence and clearly identified research gaps to HHS before the October 21, 2026, deadline. The electromagnetic universe has been here far longer than we have. The least we can do is study it properly. Respectfully, Dr. J. Begalke