{"id":"HHS-OASH-2026-0397-6228","number":"6228","name":"Vince Welage","organization":"","posted":"2026-10-28T04:00Z","received":"2026-10-20T04:00Z","body":"To the Department of Health and Human Services:\n                 Self Monitoring Analysis Reporting Technology                                                As a residential homeowner, I am submitting this formal public comment in response to the Request for Information (Docket ID: HHS-OASH-2026-039) regarding human exposures to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields (RF-EMF). While federal safety standards often assume a uniform, generalized environment, the deployment of wireless smart meters directly onto residential walls introduces acute, pulsed, and continuous RF-EMF radiation into domestic living spaces. This comment addresses four critical components of harm resulting from mandatory utility smart meters: Health, Surveillance, Cost Overcharges with Opt-Out Fees, and Cyber Security.\n1. Severe and Adverse Health Outcomes (Pulsed RF-EMF Radiation)\nUnlike cellular phones which can be powered off or placed at a distance, utility smart meters are permanently mounted to residential structures and emit high-intensity, short-duration pulses of RF radiation 24 hours a day. As reported by National health organizations, proximity to this localized radiation field has severely degraded health and quality of life, manifesting in the following documented symptoms:\n• Ringing in the Ears (Tinnitus): The installation of wireless smart meters corresponds with the onset of constant, high-pitched ringing and inner-ear pressure. This neurological and auditory distress persists within the home, making it impossible to find an environment free of sensory disturbance.\n• Disrupted Sleep and Insomnia: The continuous, erratic pulsing of the meter directly interferes with natural sleep architecture. Individuals often experience profound sleep disruption, including difficulty falling asleep, frequent nighttime awakenings, and a total loss of restorative REM sleep, leading to chronic daytime exhaustion.\n• Severe Headaches and Neurological Pain: Some people can experience persistent, throbbing headaches and localized neurological pressure that directly correlates with time spent inside my home. These symptoms alleviate noticeably only when traveling away from mesh-networked utility infrastructure.\nThe cumulative biological stress of this involuntary exposure cannot be understated. HHS must establish realistic biological safety limits that account for non-thermal, pulsed, long-term residential exposures.\n\n\n2. Unwarranted Domestic Surveillance and Privacy Intrusion\nSmart meters log electrical consumption data at granular, high-frequency intervals (often every 5 to 15 minutes). This detailed load profiling allows utilities and potentially third parties to reconstruct intimate household routines, identifying exactly when occupants wake, cook, use specific appliances, or sleep. This continuous tracking represents an unprecedented invasion of domestic privacy, turning a basic public utility into an intrusive surveillance mechanism within my own home.\n3. Fabricated Cost Overcharges and Punitive Opt-Out Fees\nFollowing the deployment of digital smart meters, countless homeowners experience sudden, unexplained spikes in utility billing despite no change in actual consumption habits. Furthermore, consumers who attempt to protect their health and privacy by refusing these wireless devices are subjected to punitive 'opt-out' penalties. Homeowners are forced to choose between paying ongoing monthly fines or accepting an unwanted, radiation-emitting device attached to their personal property.\n4. Vulnerable Cyber Security and Grid Infrastructure\nWireless smart meters connect homes via decentralized mesh networks, creating millions of exposed endpoints across the national energy grid. This architectural vulnerability presents a severe cyber security risk. Sophisticated actors or malware can exploit these wireless connections to remotely disconnect power to individual homes, manipulate billing systems, or compromise the safety and stability of the entire regional electrical grid.\nConclusion and Requested Actions\nThe mandatory or coercive installation of pulsed RF-EMF smart meters places an unfair and hazardous burden on residential homeowners. The Department of Health and Human Services must intervene to protect public health by validating these documented symptoms, protecting privacy rights, and recommending a federally protected right to a wired, analog, or non-wireless utility infrastructure without financial penalty.\nRequested Actions:\n•\tConduct a comprehensive, independent epidemiological review of chronic, non-ionizing, pulsed RF radiation from smart meters, focusing heavily on children's health.\n•\tCoordinate with state and federal utility regulators to eliminate financial penalties (opt-out fees) for homeowners opting for non-wireless utility alternatives.\n•\tUpdate national safety guidelines to reflect non-thermal biological impacts rather than relying solely on outdated heating-based safety thresholds.\n","attachments":[],"attachment_inventory":true,"withheld":false,"source":"https://www.regulations.gov/comment/HHS-OASH-2026-0397-6228","tags":["child-development","health-experiences","sleep-cognition","exposure-places","policy-standards"],"source_hash":"4f68885258b8c6350abbd7122ae89cd792ea101007b5020ccc5f1c838adfd2dc","slug":"child-development-comment-6228","classification":{"id":"HHS-OASH-2026-0397-6228","body_sha256":"4552a60a19e5740a536a855566290e063503daf53199ee2b44c2ac15fd2b3537","status":"ai_reviewed","primary_topic":"smart-meters","topics":[{"id":"smart-meters","evidence":", generalized environment, the deployment of wireless smart meters directly onto residential walls introduces acute, pulsed, and co"},{"id":"privacy","evidence":"term residential exposures.\n\n\n2. Unwarranted Domestic Surveillance and Privacy Intrusion\nSmart meters log electrical consumption da"},{"id":"neurological","evidence":" documented symptoms:\n• Ringing in the Ears (Tinnitus): The installation of wireless smart meters corresponds with the"},{"id":"standards","evidence":"alog, or non-wireless utility infrastructure without financial penalty.\nRequested Actions:\n•\tConduct a comprehensive, independent epide"},{"id":"research","evidence":"ions:\n•\tConduct a comprehensive, independent epidemiological review of chronic, non-ionizing, pulsed RF radiation from smart meters,"}],"summary":"The commenter argues compulsory smart meters create health, privacy, billing and cybersecurity risks and requests independent review, updated limits and penalty-free nonwireless alternatives.","reviewed_at":"2026-10-28T23:54:32Z","review_method":"Full comment-text review with exact source evidence; attachments not reviewed","review_source_sha256":"61dcfcb6befaf4a8e79fcd90bbaba37634b225ba0d7a5e8c198e6b2ef82d9d17","source_url":"https://rfsafe.net/hhs-comments/data/catalog.json","scope":"Original comment body; attachments excluded"},"forum_topics":["smart-meters","privacy","neurological","standards","research"],"primary_topic":"smart-meters","forum_title":"The commenter argues compulsory smart meters create health, privacy, billing and cybersecurity risks and …"}