U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told USA Today that wireless radiation from cell phones, cell towers, and other wireless infrastructure is a "major public health concern."
The interview took place on January 16, the day after the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) launched a new study on the health effects of cell phone radiation. According to health advocates, this initiative could signal a radical shift in federal policy.
Significantly, on the same day the HHS launched the study, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), now under Kennedy's leadership, removed old web pages that claimed cell phones were safe.
This concern is based on thousands of studies. Kennedy said he was "very concerned" about the negative health impacts of electromagnetic radiation (EMR). This term encompasses both radio frequencies (RF) and electromagnetic fields (EMF).
According to him, there are “literally more than 10,000 studies” on electromagnetic fields (EMF) documenting “harmful effects, including the growth of cancerous tumors.”
Miriam Eckenfels, director of the Children’s Health Defense (CHD) EMF & Wireless Program, welcomed Kennedy’s public address on these health issues. “The time is right,” she said. “While the scientific evidence continues to mount, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is aggressively pursuing its regulatory agenda to take away local communities’ control over cell tower placement.”
What does the science actually say?
Although Kennedy has been accused in the past of exaggeration and did not cite a specific source for the figure of 10,000 studies, online compilations confirm the existence of thousands of peer-reviewed studies attesting to the dangers of wireless radiation.
For example, a recent compilation by Dr. Henry Lai lists more than 2,500 peer-reviewed studies published since 1990 that have found significant adverse effects related to exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF).
Dr. Lai, Professor Emeritus of Bioengineering at the University of Washington, has been studying and compiling this research for more than two decades. His updates, formerly on the BioInitiative website, are now hosted on SaferEMR.com, a site managed by Dr. Joel Moskowitz of the University of California, Berkeley.
Furthermore, the EMF-Portal, managed by RWTH Aachen University in Germany, lists approximately 48,850 publications related to EMFs and summarizes around 7,000 of these studies.
The Forgotten US Navy Report
The US military has a long history of studying wireless radiation. In 1971, the US Naval Medical Research Institute published a report reviewing 2,311 scientific studies. Together, these studies linked EMFs to 132 different biological effects, symptoms, and diseases.
By analyzing this Navy report, researchers Richard Lear and Camilla Rees demonstrated that 23 of the 36 fastest-growing chronic diseases were conditions identified in the report as being linked to EMFs. Yet, federal regulators took no action to protect the public.
Independent Scientists Challenge WHO
In its article, USA Today cited a 2024 systematic review commissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO), claiming to find no link between cell phone use and cancer.
However, the media outlet failed to mention that in October 2025, independent scientists from the International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields (ICBE-EMF) challenged these findings.
These experts published a peer-reviewed report arguing that the WHO reviews offered “no guarantee of safety.” Dr. John Frank, president of the ICBE-EMF and an epidemiologist, stated that it would be misleading to present the WHO reviews as proof of the safety of current guidelines.
Toward Regulatory Change?
It remains to be seen whether Kennedy’s willingness to speak out on the issue and the new HHS study will lead to concrete regulatory changes.
“More research is not the answer,” wrote Theodora Scarato, director of the Wireless and EMF program at Environmental Health Sciences. “The existing scientific evidence and court rulings already demand immediate policy action.”
She suggests that HHS should require cell phones to carry labels clearly disclosing the amount of radiation emitted, as well as prominent warnings for vulnerable populations such as children and pregnant women.
W. Scott McCollough, senior attorney
0 Comment:
Post a Comment