{"id":"HHS-OASH-2026-0397-5258","number":"5258","name":"James Trask","organization":"","posted":"2026-10-27T04:00Z","received":"2026-10-21T04:00Z","body":"To: HHS\nRe: RFI for EMF exposure and human health\nDate: October 21, 2026\n\n\tMy focus in the paragraphs below is: wireless communications transmissions in the human environment.\n\n\nPrevalence of Wireless Communications EMF (microwaves) in the human environment: Why should we be concerned about possible chronic human health effects of exposure to wireless communications EMF transmissions? \n(1) In the human occupied current environment of cities and towns, ambient microwave levels (power density) are typically circa a billion-fold higher than ambient levels prior to the creation by humans of microwave-emitting devices (i.e. the ambient environment thruout the entire history of planet earth prior to circa early 1900s). Hence life on earth prior to the early 1900s existed and evolved in environments with ambient background levels of microwaves that likely did not exceed a power flux density of one picowatt per square meter. Furthermore, wireless communications transmissions are coherent, polarized, and pulsed, unlike those naturally occurring transmissions in the microwave range (e.g. from the sun; though little of this penetrates the atmosphere).  Living organisms therefor have not been adapted to surviving, reproducing, and evolving in environments of high levels of  exposure to coherent, polarized, and pulsed microwave radiation; and we do not currently have adequate information to firmly assess how significant any long-term deleterious effects of the current microwave exposure environment is for living organisms (in the terrestrial biosphere), including humans.\n(2) Microwave communications transmissions penetrate into the cells of all living terrestrial organisms, including humans. Within animals such as humans, after penetrating thru the outer layers (hair or scales or feathers, etc.) and outer layers of the epidermis, the incident microwave radiation is partially absorbed and partially transmitted thru the various tissues and organs, with a fraction of the incident radiation exiting the body of the organism and a fraction of the incident radiation being absorbed within the body of the organism. Extinction depths in animal flesh for microwave transmission are largely dependent on the microwave frequency; being shorter for higher frequency microwaves. At current ambient microwave levels in cities and towns, every cell in the body of every organism is being exposed to a significant fraction of the power flux density of ambient microwave radiation at all times. This is unlike incident radiation in the IR thru ultraviolet frequencies, which do not penetrate thru the outer layers of the epidermis. Like the much more energetic x-ray and gamma ray radiation quanta, microwave radiation penetrates into and is partially absorbed within and partially transmitted thru the bodies of animals.\n\nPrudent Action: It is my understanding that there is currently no government agency tasked with monitoring and characterizing the levels of wireless communications EMF radiation in the human environment. As a consequence, the characteristics (e.g. power densities, frequency bands, modulations including pulsations, etc.) of the current microwave-permeated environment that nearly all humans live in is not well known, let alone established. It may be prudent to begin to develop a baseline of some basic measured characteristics of wireless communications EMF radiation that is present in the human (and greater biosphere) environment. Imagine 20 and more years from now with ever-increasing levels of wireless communications radiation in the human environment; it may be of great value to have a baseline of measurements in the human environment from the 2020s, much like the earlier baselines we have for air pollution. The EPA may be a suitable candidate tasked with ensuring such ambient monitoring of the human environment for ambient microwave characteristics, which could be organized and performed in much the same way as is done for chemical and particulate air pollutants. Who knows what the future will bring in terms of findings of the chronic effects of microwave communications EMFs on human health? \n\nNote: Support for technical discussion above is sourced mainly from peer-reviewed literature I've read over the past decade (apologies, ran out of time to find citations), some basic knowledge of the workings of wireless communication devices, and my background & experience in varied engineering and applied research fields. \n\n\nSincerely,\n\nDr. James C. Trask\nDavis, CA\n\nPertinent Biography: \nAcademic: BA Applied Physics; MA Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; MS Chemical Engineering\nEmployment History: Electrical Engineer & Materials Scientist 1980s, Biochemical Engineer 1990s ","attachments":[],"attachment_inventory":true,"withheld":false,"source":"https://www.regulations.gov/comment/HHS-OASH-2026-0397-5258","tags":["research-evidence"],"source_hash":"95a73591c7fd87fcbc6847e536956a5da53de86bfef3cb6b8e26c7a02eed6981","slug":"research-evidence-comment-5258","classification":{"id":"HHS-OASH-2026-0397-5258","body_sha256":"69a521ef0c3d43c990811aaf9f2cb4207081760ac4c5af45a650dcfb0e0fdaff","status":"ai_reviewed","primary_topic":"research","topics":[{"id":"research","evidence":"ironment; it may be of great value to have a baseline of measurements in the human environment from the 2020s, much like the earlier b"},{"id":"mechanisms","evidence":"idermis, the incident microwave radiation is partially absorbed and partially transmitted thru the various tissues and organs, w"},{"id":"environment","evidence":" radiation that is present in the human (and greater biosphere) environment. Imagine 20 and more years from now with ever-incre"}],"summary":"The commenter discusses differences between natural and modern microwave exposures and how radiation penetrates tissue, identifies uncertainty about long-term effects, and proposes government monitoring to establish environmental exposure baselines.","reviewed_at":"2026-10-27T19:20:49Z","review_method":"Full comment-text review with exact source evidence; attachments not reviewed","review_source_sha256":"472556f3979f78911b71175d2b3cd1ccc0a30d2e8e56ae70ad51e334073c6a5c","source_url":"https://rfsafe.net/hhs-comments/data/catalog.json","scope":"Original comment body; attachments excluded"},"forum_topics":["research","mechanisms","environment"],"primary_topic":"research","forum_title":"The commenter discusses differences between natural and modern microwave exposures and how radiation pene…"}