HHS-OASH-2026-0397-0735
https://www.regulations.gov/comment/HHS-OASH-2026-0397-0735

Public Comment to the Federal Communications Commission - I am Kim Konte, founder of Non-Toxic Neighborhoods, a national nonprofit working to protect children from environmental harm where they live, learn, and play.

Children are not little adults. Their nervous systems are developing, and they face years of exposure to wireless technology: 4G and 5G networks in their communities, devices in their hands, and Wi‑Fi routers mounted overhead in many classrooms. The country is already planning for 6G, while the FCC continues to rely on radiofrequency exposure limits adopted in 1996.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans. That classification does not prove that classroom Wi‑Fi causes cancer. It does mean the FCC should take unanswered questions seriously, reduce unnecessary exposure to children, and require independent research focused on their health. Children’s clinicians and independent scientists must have a meaningful voice in setting safety policy.

An experimental study reported impaired insulin secretion and increased oxidative stress in the pancreatic cells of rats exposed to Wi‑Fi frequency radiation. It does not establish that Wi‑Fi causes type 2 diabetes in children. It raises a question the FCC should investigate: could long-term exposure affect children’s metabolic health?

At a 2019 Senate hearing, Senator Richard Blumenthal asked wireless industry representatives to identify independent research on the biological effects of 5G. They said they were unaware of such studies. He concluded: “We’re kind of flying blind here, as far as health and safety is concerned.”

The National Toxicology Program’s 2018 animal studies found “some evidence” of cancer in male rats exposed to 2G and 3G cell-phone signals. Those studies did not test 5G or the combination of wireless exposures children experience today. A federal appeals court later found that the FCC had failed to adequately explain its decision to retain its exposure limits, including its response to evidence about children and long-term exposure.

The FCC must answer the court, require independent research focused on children, and stop treating wireless access as the only way to connect a classroom. Schools should use hardwired internet as the default and limit wireless exposure wherever practical. Children’s health must come before the next wireless rollout.