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Washington Examiner
Policy
Wireless
US health secretary takes step toward wireless radiation rules, report due this fall
The Washington Examiner reports that the US health secretary, Robert Kennedy Jr., has taken a first step toward regulations or health warnings for cellphones, Wi-Fi and other wireless technologies, with HHS asking the public for evidence on health effects of wireless radiation. The newspaper writes that the MAHA Commission strategy report, authorized by President Donald Trump, instructed the agency to examine claims that such exposure can cause health damage, including cancer. It notes the move could put Kennedy at odds with the telecoms regulator FCC, which maintains that no scientific evidence establishes a causal link between wireless device use and cancer. At a Children's Health Defense event, Kennedy said a report is due this fall.
Note: The article does not mention that the FCC itself opened a court-ordered public comment round on its RF exposure rules on September 11, following the 2021 appeals-court remand, covered in US wireless regulator asks public to comment on radiation exposure rules. The public comments the article refers to belong to a separate FCC proceeding: Build America: Eliminating Barriers to Wireless Deployments (WT Docket No. 25-276), a proposed rule on federal preemption of state and local authority over wireless infrastructure siting. The two proceedings are distinct: Docket 13-84 concerns the RF exposure limits themselves, while Docket 25-276 concerns who decides where wireless infrastructure is built.
"Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took the first step toward implementing regulations or health warnings for cellphones, wifi, and other technologies based on fringe concerns that electromagnetic radiation could cause health problems."
— Washington Examiner
"The secretary said in a press statement announcing the request for details that the MAHA Commission strategy report, authorized by President Donald Trump, instructed his agency to look into the health effects of wireless technology based upon long-disputed claims that exposure to such technology can cause health damage, including cancer."
— Washington Examiner
"The Federal Communications Commission, which regulates radiofrequency exposure, asserts on its website that there is "no scientific evidence establishes a causal link between wireless device use and cancer or other illnesses" and that "there is no basis on which to establish a different safety threshold than our current requirements.""
— Washington Examiner
"The FCC in recent months has fielded thousands of public comments opposing a proposed rule that would undermine the authority of state and local governments to restrict wireless infrastructure."
— Washington Examiner
"The anti-vaccine group Children's Health Defense, which Kennedy chaired since 2015 but distanced himself from in 2024, has been at the forefront of litigation against the FCC and the public comment campaign in favor of state-level regulation of EMF."
— Washington Examiner
"HHS is reviewing the regulatory landscape, and we will release a report this fall."
— HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., quoted by the Washington Examiner
Location
📍 United States
📰 News Event
HHS Request for Information on EMF and wireless radiation
2026-09-17
