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What Did HHS Ask About EMF and Wireless Radiation, and What Happens Next?

by Chris Brown | Nov 3, 2026 | Research & Health, Wireless / RF

Columned federal office building on an autumn morning, with soft teal rings spreading from a small-cell antenna on a street-light pole across the avenue.

In September 2026 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services asked the public for evidence on radiofrequency and other electromagnetic field exposure and human health. The comment window closed on October 21, and 7,080 comments are now posted in the public docket. Federal exposure limits have not changed, and the report Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promised for this fall has not appeared yet.

The notice asks for evidence and commits HHS to nothing.

The notice, published in the Federal Register on September 21, 2026 as 91 FR 59792, is a Request for Information signed by Secretary Kennedy. HHS says the responses will help it assess the evidence, compare U.S. and international standards, find research gaps and shape practical recommendations. The notice also states plainly that it is not a policy.

The full text is on the Federal Register. HHS says it wants information that can "inform practical strategies to reduce unnecessary exposure where appropriate," and it asked respondents to "clearly distinguish established evidence from emerging findings and areas of uncertainty." Anyone could respond, anonymously if they chose, and every response becomes public in docket HHS-OASH-2026-0397 on regulations.gov.

The notice also limits what it promises. HHS "will not comment on any respondent's submission," and the notice says it is not "an obligation on the part of the government to provide support for any ideas in response to it," though responses "may be reflected in future solicitation(s) or policies." The limits for RF exposure from phones, routers and antennas are Federal Communications Commission rules, which Congress directed the FCC to adopt in 1996. HHS can study the question and advise. It does not write those limits.

Which questions did HHS ask?

The notice groups its substantive questions under five headings: public experiences and reported health effects, exposure standards and risk assessment, measuring human exposure, the existing evidence, and federal research priorities. Respondents could answer any of them, and HHS asked each to say whether an answer rested on peer-reviewed research, government reports, industry data, clinical observation or other sources.

Question 3 invites "individuals, families, caregivers, healthcare professionals, and organizations to share experiences regarding potential adverse health effects they believe may be associated with exposure to RF/EMFs." It asks for the source involved, how long and how often the exposure lasted, when symptoms appeared, whether reducing exposure changed anything, and any supporting documentation, "including scientific reports, exposure measurements, or other relevant information."

Other questions go wider. Question 11 asks whether risk evaluation should differ for children, pregnant women, older adults, people with implanted medical devices, workers with higher occupational exposure and people with preexisting conditions. Question 12 asks what evidence exists for effects "at levels below current federal exposure limits." Question 13 names 11 technologies, from 5G, 6G and Wi-Fi to satellite links, wearables, autonomous vehicles and "communication enabled smart meters." Question 15 asks about antennas near homes, schools and childcare facilities, including small cells, and question 17 asks how the FDA, NIH and CDC could coordinate their research.

Kennedy's video put real-world measurement on the list.

Secretary Kennedy announced the RFI in a three-minute video posted on September 21. He tied it to the Make America Healthy Again strategy and listed the technologies in question: cell phones, Wi-Fi, smart meters, wearable devices, wireless medical devices, 5G and emerging 6G. One of the questions he read out concerns measurement directly.

"Are we adequately measuring the exposures Americans experience in the real world? What do we know about cumulative exposure over time?"

You can watch the full announcement on the Secretary's YouTube channel. We have also added it to our EMF videos page. The commitment he refers to is one paragraph in the MAHA Strategy report of September 2025: "HHS, in partnership with other departments and Federal agencies, will undertake a study on electromagnetic radiation and health research to identify gaps in knowledge, including on new technologies, to ensure safety and efficacy."

The measurement question is the one closest to our own work. Questions 7 and 8 of the notice ask which methods can characterize "individual and population-level RF radiation exposure" and what would improve them. Population studies usually estimate exposure from things like phone use or distance to an antenna. A meter in a bedroom reports one location, at one time, with one instrument. Each depends on its method, which is why question 8 asks what would help assessments reflect "real-world exposure conditions."

Watercolor illustration: a neighbourhood map with dashed distance circles around a cell tower beside a bedroom where an RF meter sits on the nightstand.
A population study estimates exposure across many homes. A meter reports one room at one moment.

The FCC opened its own record the same week, with different rules for evidence.

The FCC released its own public notice on September 17, the day HHS filed its RFI. It responds to a 2021 court decision, Environmental Health Trust v. FCC, which sent part of the FCC's 2019 decision to keep its RF limits back for a better explanation. Comments were due October 22, 2026, in ET Docket 13-84.

The court asked the FCC for "a reasoned explanation for its determination that its guidelines adequately protect against harmful effects of exposure to radiofrequency radiation unrelated to cancer," including effects on children, long-term exposure and the environment. The FCC's public notice, summarized in the Federal Register on September 22, says the existing rules "remain effective today." Quoting the 2021 dissent, it also restates the current limits: "0.08 W/kg averaged over the whole body and a peak spatial-average of 1.6 W/kg over any 1 gram of tissue."

The two notices treat personal accounts very differently. HHS asked individuals to describe their experiences. The FCC wrote: "Nor do we anticipate affording such weight to unverifiable or repetitive testimonial submissions that purport to assert the existence or absence of adverse health effects." Someone who wrote to both agencies about symptoms that week was writing to one office that asked for the account and another that said it would give it little weight. Our Field Note on FCC limits versus precautionary guidelines explains what those limits are designed to cover.

Where does the science stand as HHS reviews it?

The main reference points disagree in emphasis, and the RFI does not settle them. A 2011 cancer classification names radiofrequency fields a possible hazard. A federal rat study completed in 2018 reported tumor findings at high exposures. A 2024 review of human studies found, with moderate certainty, that mobile phone use likely does not increase brain tumor risk.

In 2011 the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified radiofrequency fields as "possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B), based on an increased risk for glioma, a malignant type of brain cancer, associated with wireless phone use." That classification still stands. According to the American Institute of Physics, an IARC advisory group recommended in 2024 that it be re-evaluated.

The National Toxicology Program's studies, described on the NIEHS cell phone page, found "clear evidence of an association with tumors in the hearts of male rats," malignant schwannomas, at high levels of 2G and 3G signals. NIEHS adds that "the findings in animals cannot be directly applied to humans," because the exposures were higher and covered the whole body, and that the studies "do not apply to 4G or 5G technologies."

The 2024 systematic review by Karipidis and colleagues in Environment International included 63 articles published between 1994 and 2022. For exposure to the head from mobile phones, it found "moderate certainty evidence that it likely does not increase the risk" of glioma, meningioma, acoustic neuroma, pituitary and salivary gland tumors in adults, or of brain tumors in children. Our Field Note on why agencies say effects are not consistently replicated covers why findings like these are read so differently. None of them describes the mix of sources in a particular home.

Where things stand on November 2, 2026.

The HHS comment period closed at 11:59 p.m. Eastern on October 21, 2026. On November 2, the docket listed 7,080 posted comments, and HHS was still posting submissions in the days after the deadline. HHS has published no report, summary or proposed action based on the RFI. This section carries the date and will be updated as that changes.

  • September 2025: the MAHA Strategy commits HHS to a study of electromagnetic radiation and health.
  • September 17, 2026: the FCC releases its remand notice, DA 26-997, and HHS files the RFI. At a Washington conference that day, Kennedy said, "HHS is reviewing the regulatory landscape, and we will release a report this fall," as reported by The Epoch Times.
  • September 21: the RFI is published in the Federal Register, and Kennedy's video is posted.
  • September 24: the American Institute of Physics reports that the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements does not plan to respond to the RFI but will respond to the FCC. Brown University epidemiologist David Savitz told AIP that inviting "individual reports of health experiences is sure to elicit a very large number of anecdotal reports without any scientific value."
  • October 21: the HHS comment period closes.
  • October 22: the FCC comment deadline passes.
  • November 2: 7,080 comments are posted in the HHS docket. No report has been released.

The next things to watch are an HHS report or summary of the comments, any research plans from the FDA, NIH or CDC, which question 17 named, and the FCC's written response to the court.

What does this mean for your home right now?

For now, nothing about your home is regulated differently. The FCC limits that apply to phones, routers and antennas are unchanged, and neither agency has issued new guidance to households. If you want to know your own exposure, the practical step is the same as it was before the RFI: measure where you sleep and work.

The details HHS asked individuals to report in question 3 are the details a careful measurement records: which source, how far away, how long and at what time of day. If you sent HHS a comment and want to add readings to your own records, write down the instrument, the location, the distance and whether the device was active. Our Field Note on EMF testing versus guessing explains why that context matters more than any single number.

A reading describes a room. It is not a diagnosis, and it does not tell you whether a symptom has a cause in that room. If you have health concerns, talk to a clinician. If a reading points at household wiring or an electrical panel, involve a qualified electrician and do not open or alter equipment yourself.

Frequently asked questions about the HHS EMF request.

Can I still submit a comment to HHS?

No. The HHS comment period closed on October 21, 2026, and the FCC's closed on October 22. You can still read the comments that have been posted in docket HHS-OASH-2026-0397 on regulations.gov.

Did HHS change any wireless exposure limits?

No. U.S. limits on RF exposure from phones and transmitters are FCC rules, and the FCC's September notice says they remain in effect. The HHS notice states that it should not be construed as a policy.

Does the RFI mean HHS has decided wireless radiation is harmful?

No. The notice reaches no conclusion. It asks for evidence and says it wants respondents to separate established evidence from emerging findings and areas of uncertainty, so the agency can identify gaps and research priorities.

When will HHS publish its report?

Kennedy said on September 17, 2026 that HHS would release a report this fall. On November 2, HHS had not announced a date or published a report. We will update this Field Note when it does.

Sources referenced for this Field Note.

The two Federal Register notices and the FCC public notice are the primary documents. The video, the MAHA Strategy and the Epoch Times report are the sources for what Secretary Kennedy said and where the commitment came from. The IARC, NIEHS and Environment International sources describe the state of the evidence, each in its own terms.