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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is investigating whether wireless radiation poses health risks, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced this week.
The move puts new federal attention on a question that has remained unsettled for decades: Are the government’s safety limits keeping up with the technology Americans use every day?
“The MAHA Strategy gave us a clear mission: investigate the relationship between electromagnetic radiation and health, identify gaps in our knowledge, and make sure federal policy keeps pace with rapidly changing technology,” Kennedy posted on X.
“We promised to act, and today we are.”
The MAHA Strategy gave us a clear mission: investigate the relationship between electromagnetic radiation and health, identify gaps in our knowledge, and make sure federal policy keeps pace with rapidly changing technology.
We promised to act, and today we are.
We launched a… pic.twitter.com/vqOJQfePPW
— Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) September 21, 2026
On Sept. 21, HHS issued a formal Request for Information seeking input on radiofrequency (RF) radiation, electromagnetic fields (EMF) and their potential effects on human health.
The agency is asking scientists, doctors, industry, families and the public to submit research, data and firsthand observations by Oct. 21.
The inquiry covers exposure from cellphones, Wi-Fi, smart meters, wireless infrastructure, wearable devices, wireless medical equipment, 5G and 6G networks, satellites and other connected technologies.
HHS also wants information about cumulative exposure, real-world exposure levels and whether children, pregnant women, workers and people with implanted medical devices may require separate consideration.
“Wireless technology touches nearly every part of American life,” Kennedy said in a video on X. Americans “deserve clear answers about what these exposures mean for our health.”
At the Children’s Health Defense (CHD) conference in Washington, D.C., last week, Kennedy connected the potential risks of wireless radiation to his broader approach to children’s health.
“We’re bringing the same scrutiny that we brought to our food supply to technologies that shape our children’s lives,” he said.
The HHS investigation comes as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) faces renewed pressure to explain the science behind the exposure limits it uses to regulate wireless radiation.
HHS and FCC must take ‘mountain of scientific evidence’ into account
The FCC’s RF exposure guidelines date to 1996. In 2019, the agency declined to change them, saying the available evidence supported maintaining the existing standards.
But wireless technology has changed dramatically since then. Smartphones, Wi-Fi networks, wearable devices, smart appliances and other connected technologies now create sources of exposure that were not part of everyday life when the FCC adopted its guidelines.
In 2021, a federal appeals court ordered the FCC to address evidence and concerns about the health and environmental effects of RF radiation and explain how it determined that its limits adequately protect people and the environment.
In May 2026, CHD petitioned the court to force the FCC to comply with the 2021 order.
In late August, the court gave the FCC 30 days to explain why it had not complied.
Miriam Eckenfels, director of CHD’s Electromagnetic Radiation & Wireless (EMR) Program, said the timing of the HHS investigation is significant. “We are thrilled that HHS is entering the arena,” Eckenfels said.
She said HHS should work with the FCC to develop safe exposure limits for EMR that take into account the “mountain of scientific evidence” on potential harms.
‘FCC does not have jurisdiction over health impacts’
Wireless-radiation critics have repeatedly questioned whether the FCC’s decades-old approach adequately reflects modern wireless exposure.
“Studies were done in the ’80s on monkeys and rats to just test for heat,” CHD Senior Advocacy Manager Stephanie Locricchio said on the “Culture Apothecary” podcast in June.
“There are no long-term studies done on what happens when you have a generation of children growing up from cradle to grave, essentially, and in the womb exposed to RF radiation at all times,” Locricchio added.
In response to the court proceedings, the FCC requested public comments on health and environmental issues related to RF exposure. Comments are due Oct. 22.
Eckenfels said the FCC’s role makes HHS’ involvement particularly important. She added:
“What is interesting about this is that in its public inquiry, the FCC claims exclusive jurisdiction over RF exposure limits, and suggests that it is the agency that needs to evaluate the scientific evidence regarding health impacts.
“However, the FCC does not have jurisdiction over health impacts, nor is it a health agency. Which is why it is so important that HHS took this step and is making EMR and health a priority under the MAHA agenda.”
‘Americans deserve clear answers’
The debate over wireless radiation and its effect on health has gone on for decades.
Researchers have reported associations between RF exposure and a range of health concerns, including headaches, dizziness, nausea, memory problems, brain fog, infertility, neurological problems, learning disabilities and cancer.
A March 14 study in Environmental Health concluded that current wireless radiation safety limits are at least 200 times too high to protect against cancer risks. The researchers also concluded the limits are eight to 24 times too high to protect against male reproductive harm.
Other research has reached different conclusions.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says its reviews haven’t established that RF exposure from wireless networks causes cancer. A 2024 study coordinated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), involving more than 250,000 cellphone users, found that people with the highest total hours of calls did not have a higher risk of brain tumors than light users.
However, the IARC classified RF electromagnetic fields as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” in 2011, based on evidence involving wireless-phone use and glioma, a type of brain cancer.
USA Today, reporting on a January interview with Kennedy, cited a 2024 WHO-commissioned systematic review of 63 studies examining cellphone use and cancer. The review, which reported no link, was part of a larger group of WHO-backed reviews examining possible health effects of RF radiation.
Some scientists have pushed back on that conclusion.
In 2025, researchers with the International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields argued in a peer-reviewed paper that the WHO reviews provided “no assurance of safety.”
CHD and other groups point to a larger body of research that they say raises concerns about significant health effects.
A compilation by researcher Henry Lai, Ph.D., includes more than 3,000 peer-reviewed studies published since 1990 that reported significant adverse effects from EMF exposure.
A 1971 U.S. Naval Medical Research Institute bibliography also reviewed 2,311 studies reporting 132 adverse effects attributed to wireless radiation.
“Americans deserve clear answers about what these exposures mean for our health,” Kennedy said this week. “They deserve gold-standard science and complete transparency about what we know, what we don’t know and what we still need to find out.”
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‘Help inform how the federal government studies these exposures’
Communities around the country — including residents in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California and Montana — are fighting cell towers and 5G installations.
At the same time, wireless infrastructure continues to expand.
In July, the FCC adopted changes allowing certain mobile and portable wireless devices to transmit at a fourfold increase in power levels. CHD opposed the change, arguing that the FCC had not adequately assessed its potential implications for human exposure.
That decision, the ongoing court fight and the new FCC inquiry are now unfolding alongside the HHS investigation.
Kennedy said HHS intends to examine wireless radiation from a public-health perspective and determine what questions still need answers.
“We will follow the evidence wherever it leads,” he said. The agency will distinguish “established science from emerging findings, identify unanswered questions and determine where additional research is needed.”
HHS is specifically asking whether existing exposure standards reflect the way Americans encounter wireless radiation today, including cumulative exposure over time and exposure among children and other potentially vulnerable groups.
“This is your opportunity to help inform how the federal government studies these exposures, measures them in the real world, and evaluates potential risks to human health,” Kennedy said. “The American people deserve a government willing to ask hard questions and pursue the answers.”
Related articles in The Defender
- ‘I Intend to Stay in This Fight,’ RFK Jr. Says at CHD Conference
- Court Gives FCC 30 Days to Respond to CHD Petition on Wireless Harms
- CHD Urges FCC to Scrap Plan for 4-Fold Increase in Power Limits for Wireless Devices
- Watch: Wireless Radiation Guidelines Are Stuck in 1996, Safety Advocate Warns
- RFK Jr. Tells USA Today: Wireless Radiation Is ‘Major Health Concern’
