Reports longstanding disabling reactions to cordless phones, mobile devices and bridge tolling equipment,…

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 someone who is personally affected, a mother of two daughters who are affected, and a concerned member of society. For some reason that is not entirely clear to me, I am acutely aware of the disabling effect of electromagnetic fields on the human body and have been since the early 80’s when these devices first came into our lives. Mainly, I have managed over the years by removing myself from the source of the electromagnetic field. I live out in the country, drive an old car, avoid LED lighting when possible, avoid driving under electronic tolling, avoid biometric face scanning technologies - my old computer is wired via ethernet and I have found technologies for my phone and other devices which seem to help make the effect of the electronic field more bio-compatible - but still, removing oneself from the source of the radiation remains to be the most effective solution. However as these technologies become more and more prevalent, it is becoming more and more difficult to avoid. My first experience with wireless radiation was in 1986, when I returned to Canada from a teaching job in South India. I went to my sister's house and the phone rang. I picked it up and noticed that it did not have a cord. Not having any prior knowledge of this new invention, I wasn’t expecting anything other than what you normally expect to happen when you picked up the phone prior to the advent of cordless phones. I picked it up, noticed that it didn't have a cord and then right away, noticed an extremely intense and disturbing feeling. I would try to describe the feeling by saying, “imagine you were a person who didn't drink coffee and you just had 10 cups of strong coffee”. I felt everything spinning along with an intense, extremely uncomfortable feeling. The feeling began to subside after I put the phone down. The feeling was something I really had never felt before and had no words to describe, but "radiation burn” might come close. I said to myself, Whatever that is, I am never picking up one of those again. Little did I know that there was more to come. A bit more time went by. 3G flip-phones were becoming more popular. I never bought one, and continued to use my old cord phone. I remember that if one of my family members was on the flip phone, and the person on the line wanted to speak to me - I would always vehemently decline. The same feeling that I noticed coming from the cord phone was coming from the flip phone. Fast forward to 2011, I had moved to Seattle, living on the west side and working on the east side. I drove across the 520 bridge several times a week. I knew they were installing tolling hardware on the bridge but it was still not scheduled to start for several months. So, one day .. I was driving across the bridge as usual, not expecting anything unusual, and as I drove under the overhead bar that was being installed I had the most bizarre experience. I felt hundreds of pencil thin rays of burning radiation piercing my body. And, as I was driving along over the bridge I noticed that something like a shadow body fell out of my body as if it was mortally wounded. This is not at all something that I expected, or created from apprehension as I had absolutely no anticipation of anything being any different from any other day that I had driven over the bridge. It took several days for me to actually feel normal again after that. I was so incredulous that this was happening to me that I actually drove over the bridge one more time - thinking that this could not possibly be happening to me. And once again, experienced the same thing. Since then, I have not driven over that bridge. I don't know anything about what kind of technology they are actually using, but it felt like some kind of laser. 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. I am concerned that in the future, I will not be able to use a computer, travel, drive a car, use a cell phone to do basic functions etc, Thank you for providing individuals and families with an opportunity to be heard.