ORIGINAL COMMENT · UNEDITED TEXT
In response to: "Public Experiences and Reported Potential Adverse Health Effects"
10/14/26
To Secretary Kennedy and HHS Staff,
Thank you for this opportunity. I am writing as an "individual consumer" who has been electro-sensitive most, if not all, of my life. When I was 6 years old, I notice that the fluorescent lights in my first grade classroom made me feel unwell, and that they made it difficult for me to concentrate. Over time, I noticed other things that bothered me, including TVs and computers. Nonetheless, up through young adulthood, I managed to avoid or endure what I needed to most for the time, and was able to live a more or less normal life.
A big turning point for me came in 1998, when I was 41 years old. At that time, I began to feel ill most of the time, and became unable to function normally or even to 'fake' doing so. In the end, I had no choice but to give up my career, friends and home. I found out later that less than a year before I "crashed" (and moved to a rural area), cell towers had been installed in my old community.
As wireless technology has proliferated (cell phones, cell towers, wi-fi, smart-phones, smart-meters, smart watches, etc.), my life has become more painful, challenging and restricted. I now live in near-isolation as an environmental refugee.
Exposures to microwaves beyond my threshold of tolerance leave me with headaches, malaise and, worst of all, whole-body "crashing sensations". These episodes last between 2 1/2 and 3 hrs. For me, avoidance is imperative and constitutes a near-full-time job.
To survive in today's high microwave environment, I had "low-E" windows installed in my home, wear metalized clothing when outdoors and avoid all contact with humans, unless they have agreed to accommodate me ahead of time, such as "no cell phones". These measures have worked well at preventing my worst symptoms, most of the time, but of course they only reduce exposures, they don't eliminate them.
I am one of many who struggle with EMFs, but you will not hear from most of us. Many of use can't use computers or smart phones. I had to arrange for help getting this to you and nearly gave up on doing so. It is also a fact that a large percentage of people with severe EMF sensitivity do take their own lives. A majority of my sensitive friends already have.
Now that you have my perspective, I'd like to leave you with several points and some questions to ponder:
* To clear up the oft-mentioned "inconsistencies" in the results from research on the health effects of EMFs, findings from research done by or paid for by profit-driven industries of individuals must be removed from the database. Until then, our data will remain skewed in favor of industry interests.
* Safety standards in the United States (and many other countries) are woefully inadequate and need to align with reality. Nothing is more dangerous than a false sense of security. If anyone tells a consumer that one of their beloved "toys" is "safe", that consumer will not dig deeper to get more information or even take simple steps that could significantly reduce their exposures.
* The burden of proof for the alleged "safety" of wireless technology should be on the corporations that produce it. Currently, all the corporations need to do to maintain the extremely profitable (for them) status quo is to perpetuate the perception of doubt. Easy enough, given the amount of money at their disposal! And they even have a pre-made playbook, thanks to the master deceivers of the 20th century, the tobacco industry.
* What gives anyone the right to send microwaves into the public sphere? Into private homes? Into the bodies and cells of every living thing -- plant or animal -- on the face of the Earth?
* And finally, what about the rights of those being affected? After all, microwaves are nearly impossible to avoid, even for those of us who choose not to use the emitting devices. Life? Liberty? The pursuit of happiness?!
Thank you for your consideration.