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Editor’s note: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is asking the public to comment on the potentially harmful effects of radiofrequency (RF) radiation, more commonly referred to as wireless radiation, on human health and the environment. Click here for instructions on how to submit a comment. The deadline to submit comments is Oct. 21, 2026.
Below is Children’s Health Defense CEO Mary Holland’s comment submitted to HHS.
I am submitting this comment in my capacity as CEO of Children’s Health Defense to express serious concerns regarding the potential public health consequences of the rapid expansion of wireless infrastructure, particularly as they relate to children.
For years, Children’s Health Defense has heard firsthand from and worked with families who experience serious health challenges associated with increasing exposure to artificial electromagnetic radiation (EMR) from wireless technology. Stories like those of Amelia Gilardi from Pittsfield, MA, who became seriously ill when a cell tower was activated in her neighborhood, remind us that wireless technology and infrastructure do not come without a cost. Behind the promise of greater connectivity are real children and families suffering from debilitating health issues—and too often, it is our children who pay the price.
Children are uniquely vulnerable and deserve special consideration. They are exposed to wireless radiation at increasingly young ages, often beginning during pregnancy and continuing throughout childhood and adulthood in their homes, schools, communities, and workplaces. The widespread use of screens and wireless devices has become normalized and encouraged, while questions about hazardous, long-term and cumulative exposure effects remain routinely ignored by federal regulatory agencies and government authorities.
The FCC’s current RF exposure guidelines were established in 1996 and are fundamentally flawed and outdated. Wireless technology and infrastructure has exploded since the guidelines were introduced, and yet the industry has actively suppressed the extensive body of scientific literature that clearly demonstrates harm to people and the environment. Furthermore, federal regulatory agencies have yet to demonstrate to the public that the FCC’s decades-old RF exposure guidelines adequately protect children, other vulnerable populations and the environment from the risks of exposure.
Rather than continuing to dramatically expand population-wide wireless radiation exposure, we should exercise a precautionary approach when it comes to wireless and take this opportunity to thoroughly examine the current state of scientific literature and conduct new studies that appropriately consider the long-term consequences of ubiquitous and cumulative exposure to current and future wireless environments. That means supporting independent research into the health and developmental effects of RF radiation, particularly the effects on children, pregnant women, and other vulnerable populations.
Additionally, it is equally critical that federal regulatory agencies are transparent about the body of scientific literature that is used to establish exposure standards, and must ensure that they are based on biologically-relevant models. This scientific literature must be independent of industry influence and any entity that has a financial interest in continued wireless deployment. It is of utmost importance that HHS and other public health agencies play a central role in evaluating the evidence and identifying where research gaps remain.
Children’s Health Defense will continue to advocate for the responsible deployment of wireless infrastructure prioritizing public health above wireless expansion and industry profits. We believe that families and communities deserve meaningful opportunities to understand and address these risks and will continue to advocate for the best interests of people, public health, and the environment.
We must not allow yet another generation of children to be harmed by the effects of wireless radiation. For the sake of our children and their future, we must consider independent science, exercise transparency, and implement the necessary protections to make safer, and more responsible decisions about the wireless environment in which they are growing up.
I urge HHS to prioritize rigorous, independent, and transparent research into the health and developmental effects of wireless radiation, particularly for children and other vulnerable populations. As wireless technologies become increasingly embedded in our daily lives, we have a responsibility to ensure that their widespread use is guided by sound science and accompanied by safeguards that fully protect children’s health and development.
Sincerely,
Mary S. Holland, Esq.
President / Chief Executive Officer
Children’s Health Defense
