A retired veterinary technician reports headaches, sleep difficulties, fatigue and other symptoms around …

I am submitting this comment in response to HHS’s Request for Information on Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs), Radiofrequency (RF) Radiation, and Wireless Radiation Exposure. I am responding from the perspective of an individual, retired Registered Veterinary Technician, parent, and human being. During January 2020, my family and I were sick with what seemed like a bad chest cold with cold/flu like symptoms. This was at the exact same time that AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile were all firing up their many 5G towers around the California central valley where I lived at the time. This was right after thousands of 5G towers were fired up in and around Wuhan China in September/October 2019 causing cold/flu-like “covid” symptoms”. I have also worked from home using a laptop computer and wifi router which caused me symptoms of irritability, anxiety, depression, dizziness, headaches, nausea, heaviness in the chest, fatigue, sleep disturbances, tinnitus and other cold/flu-like symptoms. Once I took out the router my symptoms improved but it wasn’t until I left my job to move out of state and was no longer working on a computer for 40 hours a week that I really started feeling better. I have had these same symptoms whenever I spend any time in a residence or building that has wifi and/or a large amount of electronic equipment, like the San Joaquin County building where the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors meet. I was sick for several days after spending hours waiting for my turn to speak in a Planning Commission meeting to address a legal matter regarding the San Joaquin River Club where I used to live. I have also worked in several veterinary emergency hospitals with a lot of electronic equipment including fluid pumps, ultrasound machines, laboratory equipment and a CT scanner which caused irritability, anxiety, etc. I currently live in a low EMF environment which has really helped to alleviate my symptoms of Electromagnetic Radiation Sickness/Syndrome. I recently had an experience in which I had to have my iPhone 16 on my person for at least 8 hours during the day because I was waiting for an important phone call in a town with several cell towers and 5G service. By the time I got home and no longer needed to have my phone on, I felt ill like I had the “flu”. I felt nauseous, had a headache and had to go to bed early. I support HHS taking an active role in examining the potential health and environmental effects of wireless radiation. Questions about human health should be addressed by federal agencies with appropriate expertise in medicine, biology, epidemiology, and public health, and the experiences of individuals and families who report being affected should be considered alongside the scientific evidence. I urge HHS to carefully evaluate these experiences and the scientific evidence, identify gaps in current research, give particular attention to children and other potentially vulnerable populations, and establish appropriate federal research priorities regarding wireless radiation and public health. Thank you for providing individuals and families with an opportunity to be heard.