Wi-Fi & indoor exposure

Radio frequencies almost killed me.. Thanks to a wifi router and a smart meter. This is a serious problem! They have not updated technology safety standards since the mid 90's.

Injured party: Anthony Stroup Responsible party: Widex – USA Point of sale: Cory Workman / Community Hearing Center Estes Park, CO. 80517 Date of seizure hospitalization’s: 1/26/2023, 9/9/2023, 12/20/2023 have led to permanent brain damage, with multiple injuries and new mental conditions. To Whom it may concern, PRIOR TO BEING FITTED WITH BLUETOOTH HEARING AIDS, I WAS MENTALLY FIT, AND PHYSICALLY ABLE TO PERFORM AT A HIGH LEVEL OF ABILITIES, CAPABLE TO DOING A NUMBER OF TYPES OF EMPLOYMENT. TODAY IT IS A STRUGGLE TO MAKE IT THROUGH THE DAY OR ACHIEVE A TINY FRACTION OF DAILY TASK'S. As a result of this Bluetooth Wireless product and manufacturer negligence, In 2023, my life was forever changed due to a brain injury causing massive damages. The physical and emotional toll has been devastating for myself and my wife. While wearing your product in 2023, I went to ER 4 times, 3 times by EMS, and 2 times in Intensive Care. I was fitted with a pair of Widex, Moment Sheer 220’s, and given no forewarning of the known risks of this product and not given any MSDS information. Following the use of these Widex ITC BT hearing aids I suddenly began to suffer silent seizures and Status Epilepticus grand mal seizures leading to brain damage. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23676765/ https://www.notebookcheck.net/250-scientists-sign-petition-warning-of-dangers-posed-by-AirPods-other-wireless-devices.413886.0.html |The failure to forewarn of these dangers has destroyed the lives and my wife and I, and causes unbearable misery since then and continues to do so, taking its toll on myself and my Wife as well. Studies on the effects of EMW’s on epileptic seizures have been done dating back to 2013 and beyond. The World Health Organization and scientists around the world have been sounding the alarm since 2009. It took my wife about 2 minutes to do an internet search and discover studies and information indicating that the BT Hearing Aids are the reason I’ve been having epileptic episodes and seizures. Yet I was not forewarned in the least, nor was I given any MSDS information, Which Widex tells me doesn’t exist for this product. I am now EMF sensitive to Wi-Fi /5G/Bluetooth etc. I cannot sleep under these EMF’s without being deathly ill when I wake up. Wi-Fi is all around me and I cannot escape exposure. This now triggers silent seizures that make my life a living hell. Many days have been spent non-functional and in extreme misery. I end each day terrified of what I will have to endure the next morning/day, then the misery begins. I open my eyes and begin my medication needs, while the hypertension grows and that triggers epilepsy and silent seizures. Nausea from my gut to my throat, dizziness and so much more, destroying all quality of life and replaced with extreme misery. The brain damage/Injury I have suffered from using Bluetooth hearing aids make living in today's world unbearable, and a constant attack on my well-being and quality of life. I lost my job when my boss learned these hearing aids had been causing me to have seizures. With that I lost a $500,000.00 life insurance policy. I have been evaluated by the Social Security Administration and found totally disabled and unfit to handle my own finances. Below you will find a summary of the damages to date: As a result of this using this product, I have incurred the following damages: Hospital / Medical ~ $160,000.00 Follow Up Care (Lifelong) Brain Injury/Damage Electromagnetic Sensitivity (ES) & Hypertension (EMH) – Uncontrolled Epilepsy Memory Loss Loss of recall & focal abilities Depression Lost Wages Lost Life Insurance – $500,000.00 Loss of hearing Pain and Suffering Loss of quality of life This wireless product has shown to cause harm. Manufacturer negligence has forever changed my life, and their product is a direct cause of my injuries, pain and suffering not to mention two List of Documentation • Deposition letter from a specialist Doctor and world class research center. (Dr. Elizabeth Seymour at The Environmental Health Center of Dallas) • Brain Scans from Amen Clinics , The world's largest database of functional brain scans, specifically using SPECT imaging, and uses this data to understand how people think, feel, and behave. • Moment Sheer 220 product serial number • Research data from 2013 indicating the danger of your products, and related information. • Hospital/Medical Bills (UBO4’s) • Social Security Administration Proof of Disability/Benefits. • Employment Termination papers from MDC Holdings Inc. (Richmond American Homes) This is a summary and not a comprehensive list of pain and suffering.

I am responding to HHS's request for personal experiences with RF/EMF exposure and for input on disclosure, exposure standards, and research priorities. I am writing as an individual and as a husband and father in a household of five, including three children. I am a Navy veteran who served as a Hospital Corpsman, and I now work in technology, so I am comfortable with the devices involved and with tracking my own physiological data. What follows is based on personal experience and my own wearable data, not on clinical research. I first noticed a problem in 2008 while using a wireless gaming controller. Gaming sessions consistently left me feeling unwell, and only after that pattern repeated did I search online and find that other people were describing similar reactions. The symptom came before I had any idea that others were reporting it. I likely had been affected before that point without recognizing the cause. The effect I experience is a stressed, overactivated nervous system. I track this with an Oura ring. With Wi-Fi present, my deep sleep drops from more than an hour per night to about 30 minutes, and my average heart rate variability falls steadily from 50 to 60 ms to the high 20s or low 30s. When this stress persists, I get sick more often and my mood becomes less stable. In heavy Wi-Fi environments my sleep is affected that same night, and I often become dizzy to the point of needing to lie down. In 2008, we removed Wi-Fi from our home. I felt noticeably calmer almost immediately. Over the following [weeks/months], my children argued and fought much less, and my wife's frequent migraines stopped and her mood stabilized. Removing the router was not enough. Many household products contain Wi-Fi or Bluetooth radios that transmit continuously or keep searching for a connection even when they are not in use, and most give the owner no way to turn them off. To get our home to a low exposure level, I had to physically remove the wireless chips from our television, garage door opener, gaming consoles, and remote controls. Most households could not do this, and most people would not know these devices are transmitting at all. Based on that experience, I would ask HHS to consider two things. First, products should clearly disclose every radio they contain, whether it transmits while idle, and how often. Second, consumers should have a reliable way to disable those radios, ideally a physical switch, without losing the product's basic function. Right now the only way to opt out is to take the device apart, which is not a realistic choice for families, schools, or people who believe they are sensitive. I would also ask HHS to look closely at cumulative exposure in suburban areas. In communities near me such as Fishers, Indiana, 5G infrastructure has been deployed densely into residential neighborhoods. Residents now live with that infrastructure on top of their neighbors' Wi-Fi routers and the phones, tablets, and computers in every home. No single source may exceed federal limits, but no one is measuring or accounting for the total. Because federal law prevents local governments from denying these installations on health grounds when they meet FCC limits, residents have no local recourse. The federal standard is effectively the only protection they have. Other countries have chosen more precautionary limits. Switzerland and Italy, for example, set much lower limits in places where people live, sleep, and spend long periods of time, including homes and schools. HHS should examine these approaches and the evidence behind them as it advises on whether current U.S. limits, which date to 1996, are adequate. Finally, I would encourage research into whether biological effects depend on how signals are transmitted, not only on how much power they carry. Modern wireless signals are pulsed and modulated in complex ways. If certain modulation or pulsing patterns turn out to matter more than others, that knowledge could guide the development of wireless protocols that are more compatible with human biology while still delivering the connectivity people rely on. Wearable HRV and sleep trackers could offer a low-cost way to study this in real-world settings, especially where participants do not know whether a transmitter is on. In short, I ask HHS to support clear disclosure of every radio in consumer products along with a reliable way to turn them off, to evaluate cumulative neighborhood exposure rather than single sources, to review the more protective limits used in countries like Switzerland and Italy, and to fund research on whether modulation and pulsing patterns drive biological effects.

I am a mother of three children. My middle child, has autism. When I was pregnant with him, I slept in a room with the WiFi router right next to my bed for my entire pregnancy. My son also slept in a bassinet in the same room near this WiFi router for the first year of his life. At the time I had no idea the negative effects of emf on the body and brain. I think research should look into how emf impacts a developing fetus and a child’s brain in the first year of life. I’m not sure whether this contributed to my sons autism, but if there is a link to autism it should be studied so future families know the risks.

I am very concerned about the relentless increase of EMF, RF and Wifi! These waves affect all life on planet earth! We are sensitive and energetic and I have personal issues with this that have me sleeping in a hallway in my townhouse to get away from it all as much as possible. I have severe sensitivity to chemicals as well. The EMF issues have been happening for about the last five years.

Question 2 I am an individual representing myself. Question 3 Multiple sources with different experiences, listed below. Bluetooth: I experience physical pain when bluetooth devices, such as wearables, are in direct contact with my body. It typically take a couple hours to show up, increases with time, then begins decreasing the minute I take the device off, going back to zero pain within an hour. Wifi: I experience worse sleep when wifi is on. I am more anxious and irritable when wifi is on. Same with my family. EV chargers: When I am near (within about 100 feet) EV chargers for about 30 minutes to an hour, I feel anxious and wired and a sense of "something is wrong." I feel like I need to leave the area and the longer I stay, the greater this feeling gets. After leaving, it takes about 2 hours for these symptoms to dissipate. With each of these symptoms listed, I did not want it to happen and I was not anticipating it happening. After noticing it, I then A/B tested my experience, to the best of my abilities, to minimize the possibility of a placebo effect. Here is what I did for each: Wifi is simple: my wife can turn on the wifi and not tell me and I can feel it within a few hours. (We have a wifi router that has a button that allows us to easily disable/enable the wifi.) We also sometimes turn it on, then forget to turn it off at night. We all say, "Wow I slept horribly..." then think to check the wifi and, lo and behold, someone left it on. Bluetooth devices are similar: sometimes I would forget to put them on airplane mode (such as an Apple Watch) and within a couple hours I would experience pain. EV chargers were a true surprise. I have a coffee shop I love that installed them a few months ago. It had always been a place I love and enjoy. I researched EMFs around EV chargers and the research says that there are near-zero EMFs, even when cars are charging. I believed it. Then, I kept noticing myself feeling wired and uncomfortable and hating that coffee shop. I could not figure out what it was, but noticed if I walked around, there were places further from the charging stations that felt "peaceful." My best guess, given the "research" (if it is true) is that the charging stations are causing some kind of change in the electric grid itself. It seems plausible that the "tests" were performed in perfect conditions on modern grids. But when installing the charging stations on existing grids, the conditions are not perfect. Just a guess. Not perfect testing, but the best I could do. Regarding whether I sought medical help... who would believe me? What would be done, other than removing the devices, which I've already done? Question 6 I find this one to be particularly interesting (and concerning): https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12011-014-0175-5 Question 11 Yes, absolutely assess risk for children differently. They should be broken out in 2-3 year increments when young. It would also be good to assess risk using "hypersensitive" types. Not that they represent the overall population, but if you mix in all the normal folks, the signal gets much weaker. These "hypersensitive" people are canaries in the coal mine and should be at least referenced as an early signal of what could be harming the masses. For example, I don't know anyone else who feels physical pain when in contact with bluetooth devices. But it's real and should be taken as a sign that bluetooth should be studied for potential harm.

My sensitivity to EMF started a long time ago. At first I was dumbfounded - why was I having such a terrible pain in my head, coming over me like a rush and leaving me flat on the floor writhing in pain No one could touch me, I would loose control of my bladder, wincing at both light and sound, screaming for hours. At first these strange episodes would lead me to an ambulance ride to the hospital. The hospital staff performed all kinds of test, even an MRI ( I also have MS) but nothing as a cause could be found. It got so bad that on one of these visits a nurse stuck her head in and said I thought I recognized that screaming. These attacks would last for hours, leave me screaming and gradually I would return, although drained and exhausted, to normal life. Now this phenomena was called ice pick headaches and thunder clap headaches. A misnomer really since it was not a continuing ache but a very violent pain. It was first when I vacationed on my friend's 80 acre spread of pure nature in AK that it became clear that being away from civilization would do me good. For 2 weeks I no longer had these mysterious episodes! Yay - I was cured, I was free and I had nothing to fear! Well, coming back to Oregon I gradually felt the anxiousness and worry creeping back in. My partner disconnected the modem to the house and would later test me by leaving his phone on next to me and observe. It was very unknown back then (2010-ish) and people would think me weird. A blue toothed reader was mounted on the meter of the house and it set me off, a new neighbor moved in and 5G became the norm. I was devastated. Sold my house, retired early from my teaching position at the college and took to the road in an RV in search of a quiet area. COVID hit and everything became more difficult and more dangerous. After a year of fruitlessly searching for a place I ended up in a ravine ( geographically that works since signals do not penetrate)in the woods, in an HOA that has no streetlights and a requirement of 2.5 acres for each dwelling. Good for me. We have lived here 5 years plus, electrical cars have come on the market and it is hard to find any appliancecarfunction of society that does not rely on WIFI. For fear of having an attack I cannot drive a vehicle anymore, cannot shop for groceries, cannot participate in most activities anywhere and am basically a homebody. A refuge without a safe space. Luckily my partner has set me up with ethernet so I can check email etc. I don protective clothing and keep my doctors' visits to a minimal. My friends have to park their cars up on the road, put cellphones, hearing aides, Apple watches etc, etc in a faraday box that makes it impossible to receive a signal. I scan them with a device that measures EMF and RF. The best way to deal with my situation is to simply find a low( to nothing )area of EMF and stay put. What a way to live! This phenomena has been recognized as a disability in both Sweden and Canada. I would go home to Sweden but I cannot fly anymore. Please recognize this as a legitimate modern illness and since the cat is already out of the bag - be careful. The damage is done and continues to harm everything on a cellular level.

Dear Department of Health and Human Services, I am writing to formally report severe and ongoing adverse health effects that I attribute to exposure to 5G radiation. I first became aware of my extreme sensitivity to 5G in 2020. According to available data, 2020–2021 marked the peak years of the initial mass rollout of 5G infrastructure worldwide. In 2020, I began experiencing severe heart palpitations and sought emergency medical care. Physicians performed an electrocardiogram (EKG) and blood tests for cardiac enzymes; all results were reported as normal. I left the emergency room without any medical explanation for the sudden onset of these cardiac symptoms. After conducting my own research, I obtained a device designed to mitigate the effects of 5G radiation on the human body. Immediately after plugging the device into a wall outlet, my heart palpitations ceased. Since 2021, I have been required to use a 5G-compatible cellular phone. Whenever my fingertips contact the phone’s screen, I experience a burning sensation. After only one to two minutes of contact, my fingertips become completely numb. I researched mitigation options and purchased specialized gloves for handling the phone, as well as a stylus for typing. Without these protective measures, any direct contact with the phone causes pain. Even with them, touching the device produces shock-like sensations that travel up my arm and into my shoulder, resulting in significant bodily pain. I also have noticed that when I hold my phone close to my body, that I experience pain in the area that the phone is closest to. To continue mitigation efforts, I have needed to purchase protective clothing to use during my workday on the computer. I have also developed extreme insomnia, characterized by difficulty falling asleep, frequent nighttime awakenings, and early-morning awakening. The only reliable method I have found to obtain sleep is to unplug my Wi-Fi router at night. On occasions when a family member uses Wi-Fi late at night and forgets to disconnect it, I routinely awaken between 2:00 am and 3:00 a.m. and am unable to return to sleep. Additionally, on days of heavy 5G exposure I experience profound fatigue and extreme tiredness that severely impair my ability to function during the day. None of these symptoms occur when I am in natural environments far removed from 5G infrastructure. However, such areas have become increasingly difficult to locate. I am deeply concerned about the forthcoming deployment of 6G technology. I believe that 5G—and especially 6G—has the potential to harm human health, animal life, and the broader natural environment. For me personally, continued exposure could prove debilitating or worse. I therefore respectfully demand meaningful reductions in ambient levels of this radiation and urge rigorous independent investigation into its biological effects. Thank you for your attention to this serious matter. I am prepared to provide additional details or documentation upon request. Sincerely, Mary Okocha okocha.mary@gmail.com October 15, 2026 CITATIONS: Gartner forecast on worldwide 5G network infrastructure revenue growth (2020–2021):
https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2021-08-04-gartner-forecasts-worldwide-5g-network-infrastrucutre-revenue-to-grow-39pc-in-2021 Viavi “State of 5G” report — cities with 5G jumped ~350% in 2020 (to 1,336 cities):
https://www.lightwaveonline.com/broadband/article/55031716/study-global-5g-roll-outs-jumped-350-in-2020-despite-pandemic
(Related PR: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/command-the-5g-network-5g-roll-outs-more-than-tripled-in-2020-to-reach-1-336-cities-worldwide-according-to-viavi-report-301233149.html) GSA 5G End-of-Year Report 2021 (200 commercial networks, device counts, etc.):
https://www.microwavejournal.com/articles/print/37434-gsa-5g-end-of-the-year-report---2021
https://gsacom.com/paper/5g-market-snapshot-2021-end-of-year/ https://ehtrust.org/what-evidence-of-people-injured-by-wireless-radiation-was-ignored-by-the-fcc-historic-lawsuit-eht-et-al-v-fcc/ National Toxicology Program — 2018 The U.S. National Toxicology Program conducted extensive animal studies involving radiofrequency exposure at 900 MHz, representative of earlier cellular technologies. https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/research/topics/cellphones

In 2009 I began noticing a reaction to WiFi radiation in my home. It was about 1 yr after I had begun working at home. I was incredibly healthy, was a runner, had been running daily since 1978. No illness, no sensitivities, extremely healthy. But, reactive to EMF's. Please conduct thorough research and implement legislation to properly identify and manage this health hazard. It is real. people are affected by it. Do not sacrifice human health for the profit of big business.

Subject: A Daughter’s Letter of Concern for the HHS Hearing on EMF Dangers and Electromagnetic Sensitivity Dear Members of Congress and Department of Health and Human Services Officials, I am writing as a daughter who has witnessed the devastating impact that my mother’s health struggles have had on her life and our family. I urge you to take seriously the experiences of people reporting electromagnetic sensitivity and investigate the potential health effects of radiofrequency radiation (RFR) and electromagnetic fields (EMFs). My mother is an RN, BSN, with 19 years of experience in ICU, case management, and integrative wellness. Her issues began after Wi-Fi was introduced in her ICU workplace and nurses were required to wear wireless communication devices on their bodies (i.e., Vocera) throughout their shifts. At the same time, wireless exposures increased in our neighborhood and home. She began experiencing headaches, burning and ringing ears, head pressure, and a wired/ shaky sensation. Her previously mild, intermittent supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) worsened dramatically, and she developed non-sustained ventricular tachycardia (NSVT). She later developed mast cell activation syndrome. A day at a remote state park without cellular service or Wi-Fi brought striking relief from her symptoms. She repeatedly compared how she felt at the park, at work, and at home, and used an RF meter to assess environmental exposures. These experiences led her to realize that her symptoms and heart rhythm disturbances were associated with her exposure environments. Ultimately, she had to leave her in-hospital nursing career to protect her health. Watching my mother endure these challenges and give up work she was trained and dedicated to doing has been deeply concerning. Our family had to make enormous financial sacrifices to find a place where she felt better. We purchased land and downsized to a small, older home near the state park, where we could reduce exposures and obtain an electric utility arrangement permitting smart-meter opt-out. Even with these sacrifices, our experience has shown how difficult it can be to find alternatives. Many families simply cannot afford to leave their homes, change jobs, or relocate. No family should have to make these choices to protect a loved one’s health. No one should have to choose between earning a living, attending school, receiving medical care, and seeking an environment in which they feel safe. I urge HHS and lawmakers to take the following actions: Investigate potential health effects. Support rigorous, independent research into non-thermal effects of RFR and extremely low-frequency electric and magnetic fields, including possible cardiac, neurological, oxidative stress, mast-cell-related, and metabolic effects such as insulin resistance. Reassess exposure standards. Review current safety limits in light of the full scientific literature, including research on biological effects beyond tissue heating, cumulative exposures, long-term effects, and vulnerable populations. Protect people in essential environments. Evaluate wireless exposures in hospitals, schools, workplaces, and residential neighborhoods. Where feasible, provide lower-exposure spaces and practical alternatives for people reporting electromagnetic sensitivity. Protect informed choice. Support reasonable smart-meter opt-out provisions and alternatives to unnecessary wireless technologies, without imposing undue financial penalties or denying essential services. Listen to scientists and affected families. Invite independent researchers, medical professionals, and people reporting symptoms to testify. Review the BioInitiative Report (https://bioinitiative.org/) and consider inviting its contributing researchers and Andrew Marino, MD, PhD, to discuss research concerning RFR and electric and magnetic fields. As a daughter, I worry not only about my mother's health but also about what these questions could mean for children and future generations. Wireless technology is increasingly present in schools, hospitals, homes, and public spaces. We need responsible investigation and evidence-based safeguards rather than assuming that existing standards address every possible risk. I recognize that my mother's experience alone cannot establish scientific causation. However, her experience deserves serious consideration alongside the broader scientific literature. People experiencing these symptoms deserve compassion, appropriate medical evaluation, and research that neither dismisses their concerns nor presumes conclusions before the evidence is assessed. Please use your authority to ensure HHS investigates these concerns thoroughly, supports independent research, and develops policies that protect public health without placing the burden of exposure avoidance on individuals and families who are already struggling. Thank you for your attention to this important public health concern.