{"id":"HHS-OASH-2026-0397-5133","number":"5133","name":"Robert Grigg","organization":"","posted":"2026-10-27T04:00Z","received":"2026-10-21T04:00Z","body":"I've been around computers and electronics since 1977, starting with mainframe computers and the old-fashioned tube displays. That was my job until 2003 when I retired. I'm always somebody who wants to try new things when they come out. At one time I had three microwaves in my kitchen, or so I could cook three different items at the same time and have a full course meal come out in 30 minutes. When I started to work from home, I always asked for the fastest modem that was possible from my work. When the iPhone came out in 2007, I bought one and used it incessantly. I made the comment to myself this may cause me problems later on, but I would deal with that then, because right now it was wonderful. In 2012, I was living in my condo in Port Hueneme, California, called Surfside IV. I was on the second of three floors at the end of the building. In March, the electric company installed seven smart electric meters in the utility room that was directly underneath my master bedroom. underneath a closet. In May, I noticed that whenever I walked back to the master bedroom, I tended to get a headache for about two weeks. My neighbor downstairs reported the same thing. I now believe this is when they were testing the smart meters. I was excited for them to be activated so that I could monitor my electrical usage by the hour. Once a month I would call asking when they were going to be fully activated. About three weeks into September, I called and was notified that they were activated at the beginning of September. Starting around the beginning of September, my sleep had gone from nine hours a day to 4 1/2 hours a day. I thought I had just a bad bout of insomnia. I had no idea that the smart meters had been turned on. I'm fairly smart, but with my lack of sleep, it took me a year to figure out what to do. I got four of the 7 smart meters replaced with manual. I replaced my wireless phones with wired, and I switched to Ethernet cords instead of wireless for my computer. This made a small improvement. The final step was to construct a Faraday cage made out of aluminum screening that I constructed around my mattress on my platform bed, with one side opening up for me to get in and out, and the mattress inside. This reduced the reading on my meter to -65 DB, which is the most it would go to. At times, the cage would get tears in it and I found that if the reading went over -60 DB my sleep would deteriorate to six hours. This happened several times, so it was a multiple experiment that was collaborated. I found that if I was in an area that had -35 dB or greater, that within a half an hour I would feel very nervous and my sleep would be affected that night. I found that being in meeting rooms with other people that had cell phones, even though there was Wi-Fi in the building, that if I had everybody turn their cell phones off that the radiation was reduced by 90% most times. In other words, having cell phones on, in close proximity to me in a group, was much stronger than the Wi-Fi in the building. In a movie theater, I would have to go to a far corner, to be away from being in the middle of the group of people. In 2018 and in 2019, I was in the hospital. I had to be given drugs to help me get any sleep at all. In 2024 I was in the hospital for over three weeks and with opiates in me, I still had trouble sleeping more than two hours a night. I finally relented and let them give me Ambien, which allowed me to sleep six hours. I ordered an EMF blocking single pup tent that is designed to be used on motel beds. We installed that on my hospital bed and I was able to sleep six hours with no Ambien. In 2026, I was in the hospital again and used the same pup tent in both the emergency room and in the hospital, to good effect. I now find that I need to be in an area with no bars on my cell phone and no Wi-Fi hotspot around me to be able to sleep good.","attachments":[],"attachment_inventory":true,"withheld":false,"source":"https://www.regulations.gov/comment/HHS-OASH-2026-0397-5133","tags":["health-experiences","sleep-cognition","exposure-places"],"source_hash":"7cb551d554a41a999d89c20353bb769d72838ce432dc13da5aea92f7adc98e35","slug":"health-experiences-comment-5133","classification":{"id":"HHS-OASH-2026-0397-5133","body_sha256":"7a453a68e18b538e8c5e0d2be21ed6b74f434ec651aa6516326472b6b9ff1f5f","status":"ai_reviewed","primary_topic":"smart-meters","topics":[{"id":"smart-meters","evidence":"ng. In March, the electric company installed seven smart electric meters in the utility room that was directly underneath my master bedro"},{"id":"neurological","evidence":"rs a day. I thought I had just a bad bout of insomnia. I had no idea that the smart meters had been turned on. I'm fai"},{"id":"optical","evidence":"ireless phones with wired, and I switched to Ethernet cords instead of wireless for my computer. This made a small improveme"},{"id":"access","evidence":" used on motel beds. We installed that on my hospital bed and I was able to sleep six hours with no Ambien. In 2026, I was"}],"summary":"Describes insomnia and headaches after smart-meter installation, perceived improvement with meter replacement, wired connections and shielding, and difficulty sleeping in hospitals and crowded settings.","reviewed_at":"2026-10-27T19:20:49Z","review_method":"Full comment-text review with exact source evidence; attachments not reviewed","review_source_sha256":"3d4d42cd255cfef9ffabbdb0e12fc4a48d82eeedd33d6b7e17560d65099bead4","source_url":"https://rfsafe.net/hhs-comments/data/catalog.json","scope":"Original comment body; attachments excluded"},"forum_topics":["smart-meters","neurological","optical","access"],"primary_topic":"smart-meters","forum_title":"Describes insomnia and headaches after smart-meter installation, perceived improvement with meter replace…"}