{"id":"HHS-OASH-2026-0397-5903","number":"5903","name":"John DesBois","organization":"","posted":"2026-10-28T04:00Z","received":"2026-10-19T04:00Z","body":"I am submitting these comments as an individual.  These comments share my personal and family experiences with man-made EMR illness and can thus be categorized as answering Question 3 on HHS’s Request for Information.\n\nI am a US citizen and a resident of Massachusetts.  I am 34 years old and currently living in a semi-rural residential neighborhood, sharing a home with my parents and three adult siblings.  One reason why we live together is our inability to find other living situations where we can avoid man-made electromagnetic radiation (EMR).  All of us experience symptoms of EMR exposure when we spend time in commercial or urban areas in our region.  [3c] Symptoms include headaches, vertigo, nausea, cognitive dysfunction, “brain fog,” chronic fatigue, skin rashes, full body bloating, diarrhea, tinnitus, and impaired motor control.  [3f] We have been able to mitigate EMR exposure in our own home such that when these symptoms are triggered by EMR exposures outside our home, we can return home to recover.  [3b] Recovery takes hours to days to weeks, depending on the severity and duration of exposure.\n\n[3a, f] We have taken measures on our own property to ensure that our home remains a sanctuary from EMR.  We do not have a “smart” utility meter.  We do not have any LED or fluorescent lights in our home—only incandescent (and a few halogen) lights whose radiation is closer to that of natural light.  We do not have WiFi routers in our home.  We use laptop computers (not on our laps!) with WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities disabled, and with internet access via hardwired ethernet.  We have resisted our internet service provider’s efforts to upgrade our service box to a newer model that emits more EMR.  There is enough distance between our house and our neighbors’ houses so that our neighbors’ WiFi signals are significantly reduced (though still present) in our home.  The nearest cell tower is on the other side of a hill from our house.  We do not own cell phones or any other “smart” devices; thus, we do not have devices calling for the cell tower’s signal from our house.  We do not drive electric cars or have solar panels on our roof.\n\nWhile it is impossible to completely eliminate wireless EMR from our home (we still have cell service, as well as weak WiFi access from our neighbors’ houses), the difference between the EMR in our home and in the stores, schools, homes, and public buildings we visit is extremely evident—as measured both by our EMR exposure symptoms and by our handheld RF and Tri-field meters. [3g] As an example of meter readings, our home regularly measures under 10 microwatts per meter squared of RF radiation as measured on a handheld “Safe and Sound Pro II” meter (which measures radiation in the 200 megaHertz to 8 gigaHertz frequency range), and often under 2, while commercial and public buildings often measure in the tens of thousands.  We are able to tolerate our home environment, and we often cannot tolerate other environments for longer than a short visit, if at all.  It is important for our health and ability to live that we are able to maintain our home as the relative EMR oasis that it is.  This means, in particular, retaining the rights to purchase incandescent light bulbs, to live without smart phones, to refuse smart-meter installation, and to reject cell towers or other wireless radiation infrastructure projects in our neighborhood.\n\nWhile we are able to live in our home, we are increasingly unable to leave our home without getting ill due to the continued increase in EMR in our broader communities.  Society-wide scaling back of EMR technologies would enable us to participate more in our local communities and the broader society (e.g., to work) without getting so ill.  When we go out into the world—to grocery stores, to schools, on public transportation—we observe that many people are dealing with illnesses similar to our EMR-induced illness, though our broader society fails to make the connection.  We appreciate any efforts by HHS to address the nationwide illness crisis caused by our wireless telecommunications infrastructure.\n\nRegarding questions 12 and 14: Two useful sources of scientific evidence of EMR health and environmental harms are (1) the book “The Invisible Rainbow: A History of Electricity and Life” by Arthur Firstenberg, information available at https://cellularphonetaskforce.org/, and (2) the essay “When Light Turns to Darkness: Electromagnetic Radiation and Health: Are Our Wireless Technologies Harming Us?” by Margot DesBois, which distills much of the information in Firstenberg’s book and can be found online here: https://www.desboistutoring.org/when-light-turns-to-darkness-03-18-25.html.","attachments":[],"attachment_inventory":true,"withheld":false,"source":"https://www.regulations.gov/comment/HHS-OASH-2026-0397-5903","tags":["health-experiences","sleep-cognition","exposure-places","research-evidence"],"source_hash":"6d52057c59c61bacd44abc54a99f7e062041a9099f557c2b1c3029e3a5054393","slug":"health-experiences-comment-5903","classification":{"id":"HHS-OASH-2026-0397-5903","body_sha256":"fc1e1901fc7b7f055353aed844879c48b9d095080eeebf5b716f9fe53c74a5cc","status":"ai_reviewed","primary_topic":"access","topics":[{"id":"access","evidence":"ngs.  One reason why we live together is our inability to find other living situations where we can avoid man-made electromagnetic radiation (EMR).  Al"},{"id":"neurological","evidence":"es, vertigo, nausea, cognitive dysfunction, “brain fog,” chronic fatigue, skin rashes, full body bloating, diarrhea, ti"},{"id":"optical","evidence":"ities disabled, and with internet access via hardwired ethernet.  We have resisted our internet service provider’s efforts to up"},{"id":"smart-meters","evidence":"ight bulbs, to live without smart phones, to refuse smart-meter installation, and to reject cell towers or other wireless radiation infrastru"},{"id":"infrastructure","evidence":", to refuse smart-meter installation, and to reject cell towers or other wireless radiation infrastructure projects in our neigh"},{"id":"headlights","evidence":"a “smart” utility meter.  We do not have any LED or fluorescent lights in our home—only incandescent (and a few halogen) lights whose r"},{"id":"standards","evidence":"asis that it is.  This means, in particular, retaining the rights to purchase incandescent light bulbs, to live without smart phon"}],"summary":"Describes a family's symptoms and extensive low-EMR home adaptations, restrictions on work and community participation, and requests rights to avoid wireless infrastructure and devices.","reviewed_at":"2026-10-28T16:50:58Z","review_method":"Full comment-text review with exact source evidence; attachments not reviewed","review_source_sha256":"9f3803f4431511b14df39eebcb1ac5d99134b72eb9e8fe69f73aabda4c997f04","source_url":"https://rfsafe.net/hhs-comments/data/catalog.json","scope":"Original comment body; attachments excluded"},"forum_topics":["access","neurological","optical","smart-meters","infrastructure","headlights","standards"],"primary_topic":"access","forum_title":"Describes a family's symptoms and extensive low-EMR home adaptations, restrictions on work and community …"}