{"id":"HHS-OASH-2026-0397-6711","number":"6711","name":"Anonymous Anonymous","organization":"","posted":"2026-10-28T04:00Z","received":"2026-10-20T04:00Z","body":"To Whom It May Concern:\n\nI submit this comment as a concerned citizen and well-being advocate who spent more than two years helping a community member seek the right to retain an analog utility meter rather than being required to accept a wireless smart meter. At the start of this journey, I knew very little about electromagnetic fields (EMF), radiofrequency radiation (RF), smart meters, or electromagnetic sensitivity. However, through extensive research, conversations with physicians, researchers, engineers, and affected individuals across the country, I became convinced that these issues deserve far greater public health attention.\n\nOver the course of my advocacy, I reviewed scientific literature, books, articles, utility documents, and health reports. I also met many individuals who reported symptoms they associated with EMF and RF exposure, including sleep disturbances, anxiety, headaches, cognitive difficulties, fatigue, neurological symptoms, and cardiovascular concerns. I leaned upon well-respected organizations in the U.S. who are helping to advocate on these issues. While correlation does not prove causation, the consistency of these reports should not be dismissed and warrants serious, independent investigation.\n\nOne area that particularly concerns me is the potential overlap between EMF-related symptoms and conditions commonly classified as mental health disorders. Although I am not a physician, I believe researchers should examine whether environmental electromagnetic exposures may cause, contribute, or exacerbate symptoms associated with anxiety, depression, attention disorders, and other neurological/behavioral conditions. Millions of Americans suffer from these disorders. We should ask whether some portion of these cases may have physiological contributors that remain insufficiently explored.\n\nI also believe additional research is needed regarding \"dirty electricity,\" voltage transients, and the cumulative effects of chronic exposure to artificial electromagnetic environments. As technology becomes more embedded in daily life, public health research should keep pace. My advocacy effort resulted in a successful outcome, allowing the resident to keep an analog meter. More importantly, it highlighted a broader issue that could impact nearly 40,000 people in the community.  Consumers should have the right to make informed choices about technologies placed on or near their homes, regardless of whether they qualify under disability laws.\n\nI am particularly troubled by utility policies that require customers to pay ongoing monthly fees to retain an analog meter. Such charges can create a financial penalty for exercising personal choice regarding health and safety concerns. These policies deserve regulatory review to ensure they are fair, transparent, and justified.\n\nIn the course of this work, I encountered people who believed they experienced health challenges associated with long-term occupational or environmental EMF exposure. These experiences included cancer diagnoses, neurological symptoms, and cardiovascular concerns among individuals regularly exposed to radios, electrical equipment, wireless infrastructure, or other sources of electromagnetic radiation. These accounts are anecdotal and do not establish causation, but they reinforce the need for independent long-term research.\n\nI am also concerned about potential environmental impacts. Reports regarding pollinator health, including bee navigation and colony health, deserve thorough scientific examination. Given the importance of pollinators to agriculture and food security, even the possibility of adverse effects should be investigated. Likewise, the rapid expansion of wireless infrastructure, smart devices, connected vehicles, and large data centers raises important questions about cumulative environmental and human exposure.\n\nAt a minimum, the public deserves transparency and informed consent. Consumers should receive clear information regarding the electromagnetic emissions associated with products and technologies they are asked to use. Public health agencies should support independent research, encourage open scientific inquiry, and ensure that innovation does not outpace safety evaluation.\n\nI respectfully urge HHS to prioritize research into the potential effects of EMF, RF radiation, and electrical pollution; support studies involving vulnerable populations; evaluate possible links to neurological and mental health symptoms; assess environmental impacts; and protect consumer choice regarding utility metering and other technologies.\n\nHistory has shown that responsible public health policy requires investigating emerging concerns before they become established crises. The concerns surrounding EMF exposure deserve that same level of attention today.\n\nRespectfully,\n\nConcerned Citizen and Well-Being Advocate","attachments":[],"attachment_inventory":true,"withheld":false,"source":"https://www.regulations.gov/comment/HHS-OASH-2026-0397-6711","tags":["cancer-tumors","health-experiences","sleep-cognition","exposure-places","policy-standards","research-evidence"],"source_hash":"803f629ab781139ebab4b4229522d5f79e5dcafcf89633f0cea8960825c5409a","slug":"cancer-tumors-comment-6711","classification":{"id":"HHS-OASH-2026-0397-6711","body_sha256":"d51b9b1b09af61de52ff805e34bb1b9d6d531d20bcac9edfd5072ae0cd530f5b","status":"ai_reviewed","primary_topic":"smart-meters","topics":[{"id":"smart-meters","evidence":"right to retain an analog utility meter"},{"id":"standards","evidence":"These policies deserve regulatory review"},{"id":"research","evidence":"prioritize research into the potential effects"},{"id":"environment","evidence":"pollinator health"},{"id":"electricity","evidence":"\"dirty electricity,\" voltage transients"}],"summary":"Describes successful analog-meter advocacy and concern about opt-out fees, reports accounts of symptoms without claiming causation, and requests independent research on neurological, electrical and ecological effects and protection of consumer choice.","reviewed_at":"2026-10-28T23:54:32Z","review_method":"Full comment-text review with exact source evidence; attachments not reviewed","review_source_sha256":"07763ed44cabf7f6ff59fcd2b3ce8c5bcce13cb5dc9a0eeffb43cfe9c7ba671a","source_url":"https://rfsafe.net/hhs-comments/data/catalog.json","scope":"Original comment body; attachments excluded"},"forum_topics":["smart-meters","standards","research","environment","electricity"],"primary_topic":"smart-meters","forum_title":"Describes successful analog-meter advocacy and concern about opt-out fees, reports accounts of symptoms w…"}