Protecting Americans from Unnecessary RF Radiation: Why the FDA Must Do Its Job – A Crisis Hidden in Plain Sight
Millions of Americans move through their days surrounded by an ever-thickening blanket of radiofrequency (RF) radiation—emanating from cell phones, Wi-Fi routers, smart meters, Bluetooth gadgets, and more. Over the last 25 years, an overwhelming body of research has linked chronic RF exposures to serious health risks, including headaches, dizziness, neurological issues, fertility damage, and even cancer. This wealth of data cannot be ignored.
Yet the very agency tasked by law with protecting us from “unnecessary electronic product radiation”—the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—has shirked its statutory obligations for decades. Even after a landmark National Toxicology Program (NTP) study found clear evidence linking RF to tumors in laboratory animals, the FDA not only failed to act—it effectively defunded ongoing research under the current administration, shutting down any deeper investigation. This blatant dereliction of duty violates Public Law 90-602, the 1968 Act mandating the FDA to study, monitor, and minimize electronic radiation hazards.
Public Law 90-602: The Law the FDA Keeps Ignoring
In 1968, Congress recognized the potential dangers posed by emerging consumer technologies—everything from microwaves to X-ray devices to radiofrequency sources. To address these concerns, lawmakers passed Public Law 90-602, requiring the FDA to:
- Plan, conduct, and coordinate research on electronic product radiation (including RF).
- Actively evaluate how these emissions affect people.
- Develop methods and best practices to minimize exposure.
These directives are not optional. They are core responsibilities clearly spelled out in U.S. Code Title 21. The FDA is legally obligated to protect Americans from unnecessary radiation—and that covers cell phone signals, Wi-Fi transmissions, and other forms of non-ionizing RF.
Fifty Years of Inaction
Despite the law’s clarity, the FDA has been missing in action on wireless radiation oversight:
- It never systematically tracks Americans’ daily, cumulative RF exposures.
- It doesn’t publish guidelines for schools or medical professionals on how to reduce or assess RF risks.
- It has failed to incorporate new findings on non-thermal, biological effects—even though many studies confirm that RF can cause DNA damage, oxidative stress, and elevated cancer risks without any significant heating of tissue.
The result is a massive regulatory void, with no meaningful federal oversight of the exploding wireless landscape. Meanwhile, children, pregnant women, and individuals with chronic conditions are effectively unprotected—left in the dark about the real dangers of constant RF bombardment.
NTP Study: Clear Evidence, Then Defunded
An especially egregious example of the FDA’s negligence involves the National Toxicology Program (NTP). Over a decade ago, the FDA itself requested this large-scale research to determine whether cell phone-level RF was carcinogenic.
- NTP’s Rigorous Methods
- Spanning multiple years and costing $30 million, NTP scientists exposed thousands of rodents to non-ionizing RF, mirroring human cell phone usage.
- The study design was meticulous and included extensive peer review.
- Striking Results
- In 2018, the NTP announced “clear evidence” that prolonged RF exposure led to malignant heart and brain tumors in rats.
- Additional findings revealed DNA strand breaks and heightened oxidative stress.
- FDA’s Reaction: Silence and Defunding
- Instead of using these results to update guidelines, inform clinicians, or launch public education campaigns, the FDA bizarrely dismissed the data.
- Under the current Biden-Harris administration, funding for further NTP wireless research was cut, effectively stifling any follow-up that could confirm—and act upon—these disturbing findings.
This abandonment of critical research is a direct violation of Public Law 90-602, which mandates that the FDA actively pursue knowledge about electronic product radiation hazards, not bury it.
Entropic Waste: Why Unchecked RF Matters
Many in industry and government continue parroting the outdated claim: “If it doesn’t heat you, it can’t hurt you.” That’s 1990s thinking—long disproven by modern science. What we now face is entropic waste: the chaotic, unnecessary torrent of electromagnetic signals flooding our environment.
- Schools: Classrooms filled with 30+ laptops, multiple routers, and always-on wireless devices.
- Smart Meters: Utility companies install devices that pulse high-intensity RF around the clock.
- Personal Devices: Individuals carry phones on their bodies, hold them against their heads, sleep with them inches away at night.
Over time, these sub-thermal exposures can biologically stress cells, cause DNA and mitochondrial damage, and weaken the body’s repair mechanisms—exactly what the NTP study, the Ramazzini Institute, and numerous other investigations have repeatedly shown.
The FDA’s Legal Mandate—and Its Ongoing Failure
Public Law 90-602 is unambiguous: The FDA must research, evaluate, and actively minimize unnecessary electronic product radiation. By:
- Disregarding the NTP’s findings,
- Defunding follow-up research, and
- Issuing no updated guidelines for the public,
the agency is clearly in breach of its congressional directive. This isn’t a matter of interpretation. It’s a matter of ignoring black-letter law and sidelining legitimate health concerns in favor of short-term corporate convenience.
Real-World Consequences
- Schools and Children
With no FDA safety framework, schools expand their Wi-Fi and device usage with zero awareness that they may be saturating kids’ developing brains with powerful RF. Children’s thinner skulls and rapidly dividing cells make them uniquely vulnerable. - Medical Community in the Dark
Physicians look to the FDA for guidance on novel health threats. But the FDA’s noncommittal stance fosters ignorance about how RF could be influencing symptoms like insomnia, headaches, or fatigue—and no official training on how to reduce exposures. - Smart Meters
Homeowners complain of insomnia, heart palpitations, or headaches after forced installations of smart meters. The FDA remains silent, ignoring a nationwide wave of anecdotal evidence. - Pregnant Women
Expectant mothers deserve accurate risk information. Instead, they get blanket statements from the FDA that “no danger is proven”—a patently false reassurance given the NTP’s findings and other robust data.
We Must Demand the FDA Obey Public Law 90-602
1. Support the Citizens Petition
In May 2023, a coalition of health and consumer-safety organizations filed a Citizens Petition to compel the FDA to follow the law. Add your voice by:
- Submitting Public Comments: Urge the FDA to comply with 21 U.S.C. 360ii and investigate real-world RF exposures.
- Contacting Legislators: Ask them to uphold the law and pressure the FDA to act on comprehensive wireless radiation research and regulation.
2. Press for Accountability in Agency Leadership
For too long, key FDA decision-makers have had industry ties, fueling the “thermal-only” dogma. When leadership undermines mandatory research and public advisories, they must be held accountable—especially when failing to protect children and other vulnerable populations.
3. Educate Your Community
- Raise Awareness about the NTP’s results, the FDA’s legal obligations, and how these exposures accumulate in everyday life.
- Advocate for precautionary measures: turning off Wi-Fi when not in use, keeping devices away from the body, opting for wired connections when possible.
4. Demand Reinstatement and Expansion of the NTP Study
The original NTP study was cut short under Biden-Harris leadership despite yielding crucial evidence of cancer risks. This unprecedented step is a direct affront to the law, which mandates continued exploration of electronic product radiation hazards. We need a renewed NTP or equivalent large-scale investigation—funded and supported by the FDA.
Conclusion: A Government Failure That Must End Now
The FDA’s defiance of Public Law 90-602 represents a gross abdication of its duty to protect Americans from unnecessary RF radiation. Even as peer-reviewed research stacks up—decades of consistent red flags—the agency refuses to:
- Update exposure guidelines,
- Inform physicians, or
- Research the multi-device environments we actually live in.
Meanwhile, the NTP delivered alarming evidence—only to have its follow-up work defunded. This is not a misunderstanding or mere bureaucratic backlog. It’s a deliberate choice to ignore the law, dismiss science, and pander to corporate interests at the expense of public health.
Our demand is simple: The FDA must finally honor its legal obligations, restore and expand independent RF research, and act on the compelling evidence that sub-thermal RF exposures can damage biological systems. Children, pregnant women, the elderly, and indeed every American deserve an agency that protects us, rather than shelters the wireless industry from overdue scrutiny.
Additional Resources & References
- Public Law 90-602 (1968): [Official Legislative Text]
- National Toxicology Program (NTP): Clear Evidence of RF Carcinogenicity (2018)
- Citizens Petition (May 2023): Demanding FDA Compliance with 21 U.S.C. 360ii
- Ramazzini Institute Study: Parallel findings on RF-induced tumors at lower power densities
- BioInitiative Report: Comprehensive review of 1,800+ studies on non-thermal EMF effects
Take Action:
- Comment on the Citizens Petition.
- Contact your representatives and insist the FDA do its job.
- Share these facts with friends, family, and healthcare providers.
- Demand accountability and transparency at every level.
By confronting the FDA’s unlawful inaction and standing up for science-based policy, we can curb this invisible hazard that touches every facet of modern life. We owe it to ourselves and future generations to ensure the government complies with its own laws—especially those designed to keep us safe from preventable harm.
Congressional Findings
“An Act
**To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for the protection of the public health from radiation emissions of electronic products.”Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the ‘Radiation Control for Health and Safety Act of 1968’.”
“The Congress hereby finds and declares that the public health and safety must be protected from the dangers of electronic product radiation, and that the development and utilization of electronic products capable of producing such radiation have created significant possibilities for public exposure to radiation emissions… It is therefore the purpose of this Act to provide for the protection of the public health and safety from electronic product radiation through the setting and enforcement of standards designed to control such emissions.”
(Public Law 90-602, § 2, 82 Stat. 1173)
2. FDA Responsibilities (Codified at 21 U.S.C. § 360ii)
“SEC. 534. (a) The Secretary [of Health, Education, and Welfare, now the Secretary of Health and Human Services] shall:
(1) plan, conduct, coordinate, and support research, development, training, and operational activities to minimize emissions of and the exposure of people to, unnecessary electronic product radiation;
(2) establish such programs of study, testing, and evaluation as may be necessary to determine the nature and extent of the hazards to which people are being exposed from electronic product radiation and to develop and test methods for the evaluation and control of such hazards;
(3) prescribe performance standards for electronic products to control the emission of electronic product radiation from such products so as to protect the public health and safety;
(4) undertake, contract for, or otherwise support the training of personnel… necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act, including the development and implementation of educational programs to inform the public of the hazards from, and techniques for the safe use of, electronic product radiation; and
(5) consult with, and make recommendations to, other Federal agencies… and to State and local governments to facilitate the enforcement of this Act and consistent standards with respect to the control of electronic product radiation in order to protect the public health.”
3. Minimizing Unnecessary Radiation (Codified at 21 U.S.C. § 360hh, 360ii)
“The Secretary shall carry out an electronic product radiation control program designed to protect the public health and safety from electronic product radiation through research and development of standards, and through the enforcement of such standards.”
(Excerpted from 21 U.S.C. § 360hh)
“In carrying out the provisions of this section, the Secretary shall (A) conduct, assist, and foster research, investigations, experiments, demonstrations, and studies relating to the causes, control, and prevention of electronic product radiation; (B) make grants to public or nonprofit institutions… for the conduct of such research and for demonstrations; and (C) provide technical assistance to State and local governments and to other public or nonprofit institutions.”
(Paraphrase of 21 U.S.C. § 360ii)
4. Regulatory and Enforcement Authority
“Performance standards prescribed under this Act shall include provisions for assuring that electronic product radiation emissions are limited to the lowest level permitted by technological feasibility and practicality… and do not pose a danger to the public health.”
(From legislative text clarifying the scope of standards)
“Any person who manufactures, assembles, or imports electronic products shall be subject to such regulations and standards… to ensure compliance with this Act and with the conditions necessary to protect the public from electronic product radiation.”
(Section detailing the agency’s enforcement powers)
5. Purpose and Scope
“It is the purpose of this Act to protect the public health and safety from the dangers of electronic product radiation and to establish a program to ensure that the Secretary can take such actions as may be necessary to effectuate this purpose and to carry out the responsibilities placed on him under this Act and other laws of the United States.”
(Public Law 90-602, § 2(b))
Notes on Codification and Terminology
- Secretary: References to the “Secretary” typically mean the Secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare; since departmental restructuring, these functions now reside with the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).
- FDA’s Role: Enforcement and implementation of these requirements were assigned within HHS to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), under the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH).
- Electronic Product Radiation: Broadly covers ionizing and non-ionizing radiation emitted by electronic devices, which includes X-rays, microwaves, radiofrequency (RF), etc.
Summary of Congressional Intent
The Radiation Control for Health and Safety Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-602) envisions a proactive federal role in researching, regulating, and minimizing the dangers of all forms of electronic product radiation. It compels the Secretary (and thus the FDA) to:
- Study existing and emerging sources of electronic radiation.
- Develop scientific and technical procedures to evaluate these emissions.
- Promulgate performance standards that protect the public health by keeping emissions “as low as technologically feasible.”
- Educate and inform the public about potential dangers and safe-use practices.
These statutory mandates clearly state that the FDA is not just authorized but required to address the hazards of radiation from electronic devices—which, by modern definitions, include mobile phones, Wi-Fi routers, and other RF-emitting devices.
Additional Reference Links
- Public Law 90-602: Original text can be found in the U.S. Statutes at Large (82 Stat. 1173).
- Codification: Incorporated primarily into Sections 360hh–360ss of Title 21, United States Code.
- Historical Context: Legislative history available via the Congressional Record, 1968.
Disclaimer: This document provides selected direct quotes and summaries from the law. For full details and any legal or regulatory actions, please refer to the official U.S. Code or the Federal Register for final regulations under Public Law 90-602.