ORIGINAL COMMENT · UNEDITED TEXT
I am writing regarding the FCC’s response to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals’ remand concerning its decades-old radiofrequency (RF) radiation exposure guidelines. The Court directed the FCC to provide a reasoned explanation for its determination that its guidelines adequately protect humans against harmful effects of RF radiation unrelated to cancer. Specifically, the court required the FCC to address the impacts of RF radiation on children, the health implications of long-term exposure, the ubiquity of wireless devices and technological developments, impacts on the environment, and the adequacy of the FCC’s testing procedures for cell phones and other portable devices. The FCC should fully consider evidence and real-world experiences concerning the health and environmental impacts of wireless radiation, including non-cancer health effects, impacts on children, long-term and cumulative exposure, cancer, and impacts on wildlife and the environment. The FCC is not a health agency and does not have expertise in medicine, biology or public health. Yet, the agency continues to assert authority over RF exposure standards and is preparing to reach conclusions about whether its existing guidelines adequately protect the public. I urge the FCC to recognize the critical role of federal health agencies, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and to rely on appropriate health and biological expertise when addressing the issues identified by the court. This issue matters to me personally because: I am a practicing Internal Medicine physician with additional expertise in Integrative Medicine, which uses biologic strategies to reverse chronic illnesses. I also suffer from chronic illness myself, and as such have found myself extraordinarily sensitive to the presence of the microwave carrier frequencies used ubiquitously by the telecom industry (cell towers and cell phones), home and office connective infrastructure (WiFi routers, computers using WiFi, office equipment continuously emitting wireless radiation, even the newer automobiles that continuously emit wireless radiation. I have extensively measured my local environment with a portable, handheld wireless emissions meter and made a note where they are particularly high. I have discovered that whenever I am exposed to these areas, even for an hour or two, I experience physical effects. This happens in a relatively stereotyped sequence, starting after about 3 hours with activation of my sympathetic autonomic system (ie, "fight or flight" system, due to immediate damage), then progressing to difficulty sleeping that night, sometimes accompanied by a "restless legs" feeling (which I otherwise never have) and then fairly profound fatigue for the next 2 to 3 days, until my system recovers, utilizing passage of time in the relatively "safer" environment of my home, along with several biological strategies required for recovery. Fortunately, I have been able to eliminate wireless devices in my home by using a router which connects via data cable to my computer, along with using hardwire connections to printer, etc. Measurements of radiation have confirmed fairly low levels, though I still have ambient radiation from neighbors, local cell towers, etc. I also keep my cell phone on airplane mode except to text, essentially never using my cell phone for calls. I have also noted extreme stiffness of my knee joints when in high exposure areas. I also believe that, even in the relatively lower exposure area of my home, my sleep is unnaturally difficult, and that my bowel function is unnaturally sluggish. Certainly as a result of my own experiences, let alone millions of my fellow countrymen and women and children who don't have the benefit of a medical education and experience practicing Integrative medicine to understand this exposure from a technical perspective, I urge the FCC to give meaningful consideration to the experiences and evidence before it and to fully address each of the issues identified by the court.