For over half a century, scientists have repeatedly warned that wireless (radiofrequency) radiation can cause a wide range of biological harm—warnings that U.S. authorities systematically downplayed or ignored. This has led to obsolete guidelines that only address tissue heating, grossly violating Public Law 90-602, which mandates protection from all electronic product radiation hazards, not just thermal effects. The National Toxicology Program (NTP), which was one of the last independent bodies in the United States studying non-thermal effects of wireless radiation, has now been effectively shut down after its research began exposing these dangers.
This is not a misunderstanding or bureaucratic slip—it is a calculated betrayal of public trust, enabled by collusion between government agencies, industry lobbyists, and policymakers who have refused to hold corporations accountable. The time has come to end this decades-long cover-up, refund and fully empower the NTP to complete its mission, and overhaul fraudulent FCC guidelines that have left Americans unprotected from known health risks.
Early Research and the 1971 Naval Report
We’ve known about the bioeffects of radiofrequency (RF) and microwave radiation since at least 1971, when the U.S. Naval Medical Research Institute compiled more than 2,000 studies showing everything from impacts on the nervous system to potential genetic damage. Authored by Dr. Zorach Glaser, this report categorized 17 distinct biological effects—including reproductive harm, cardiovascular changes, enzyme alterations, and behavioral disruptions—all at exposure levels that do not cause heating of tissue.
- Key Point: The military already recognized “microwave sickness” symptoms—headaches, dizziness, and cognitive impairment—well before the wireless consumer boom. These findings obliterate the industry’s insistence that only heating matters.
Systematic Downplaying and the Rise of Fraudulent Guidelines
FCC’s 1996 Thermal-Only Limits
Despite decades of warnings, by the mid-1990s the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted exposure standards (in 1996) that were willfully blind to non-thermal effects. These guidelines are still in place today—unchanged for nearly 30 years—and only protect against acute burns or tissue heating, ignoring all evidence of biological harm at lower levels.
- Result: An explosion of wireless infrastructure (cell towers, Wi-Fi, 5G antennas) ensued, under the legal fiction that “if it doesn’t burn you, it can’t harm you.”
Telecom Act of 1996, Section 704 – The “Health Gag”
That same year, Section 704 of the Telecommunications Act was enacted, stripping local governments of the right to block cell towers on health or environmental grounds. Communities were literally forbidden by federal law from citing health risks in zoning disputes, even if they had scientific evidence showing potential harm.
- This is an outright violation of the spirit of Public Law 90-602, which obligates the government to safeguard the public from harmful electronic radiation. Instead of fulfilling that mandate, Congress effectively muzzled localities and fast-tracked the deployment of RF-emitting infrastructure.
The Role of the National Toxicology Program—and Its Betrayal
NTP’s Groundbreaking Findings
Over a decade, the NTP conducted a $30 million series of animal studies. Released in 2018, the final report shook the foundations of “thermal-only” dogma:
- “Clear evidence” that rats exposed to cellphone-level RF developed malignant heart tumors (schwannomas).
- DNA damage was observed even at non-thermal exposure levels.
These NTP findings alone should have compelled an immediate regulatory overhaul of the FCC’s 1996 guidelines. Instead, they triggered a powerful backlash from entrenched interests who wanted those results buried.
Defunding the NTP: A Willful Sabotage
Rather than expand on these alarming findings, officials quietly defunded the NTP’s RF studies in 2024, effectively shutting down the largest government effort investigating non-thermal wireless radiation hazards. This is not just negligence—it is deliberate sabotage.
- Why: The more evidence NTP produced, the harder it became to maintain the fiction that current FCC standards protect public health. Industry and complicit regulators evidently decided it was safer (for them) to kill the research program than to confront the consequences of failing to warn the public for decades.
Public Law 90-602: FDA’s Broken Duty
Public Law 90-602 (Radiation Control for Health and Safety Act of 1968) explicitly requires federal agencies—particularly the FDA—to protect the public from all harmful electronic product radiation. Despite this mandate, the FDA did nothing with the NTP’s data to update safety standards or require warning labels. By permitting the NTP’s shutdown, the FDA enabled the continued violation of its own statutory obligations, effectively breaking federal law designed to safeguard Americans’ health.
A Mountain of Evidence, Consistently Ignored
Decades of Independent Science
From the 1971 Naval Report to more recent meta-analyses like the BioInitiative Report, thousands of peer-reviewed studies have connected wireless radiation to:
- Cancer (gliomas, acoustic neuromas, and others)
- Infertility and reproductive dysfunction
- Neurological impairments (memory deficits, sleep disturbances, behavioral problems)
- Electrohypersensitivity (headaches, fatigue, heart palpitations)
The pattern is undeniable: independent, non-industry-funded research overwhelmingly indicates that RF radiation—even at non-thermal levels—can wreak biological havoc over time.
Industry-Funded Studies and the Cover-Up
Similar to the tobacco industry playbook, wireless companies have historically funded studies designed to obscure real risks. Investigators like Dr. Henry Lai, who found RF-induced DNA breaks in 1995, were harassed, defunded, and publicly discredited by corporate “war-game” strategies. This is a systemic campaign to disinform policymakers and the public, protecting profits at the expense of public health.
Current Regulatory and Legal Developments
2021 Court Victory: A Ray of Hope
In a major legal rebuke, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled in 2021 that the FCC’s decision to retain its outdated 1996 standards was “arbitrary and capricious.” The court noted that the FCC ignored voluminous evidence of non-thermal harms, children’s vulnerabilities, and environmental impacts.
- Implication: The ruling exposed the FCC’s fraudulence but did not automatically update the standards. Real change demands active enforcement, which has yet to occur.
The Continuing Struggle
Despite the court’s decision, the same antiquated guidelines remain in place, and Section 704 still forbids health-based tower challenges. Communities across America continue to suffer the rollout of 5G antennas—often right outside bedroom windows—without any recourse. Meanwhile, the main federal research program (NTP) that could have informed better policy has been left to wither.
Demand for Action: Restart the NTP and Honor Public Law 90-602
We are at a crossroads. The scientific community has long established that non-thermal RF radiation can have severe health implications. The NTP confirmed it with “clear evidence” of cancer. Yet the U.S. government—tasked with protecting public health—responded by defunding the very body producing these critical findings.
This is morally unacceptable and a blatant breach of Public Law 90-602, which mandates full protection from electronic product radiation risks.
Immediate Steps
- Fully Restore NTP Funding: Halt the shutdown, rehire or expand scientific teams, and accelerate the crucial research into non-thermal, long-term RF risks.
- Reinstate the EPA’s EMF Oversight: The Environmental Protection Agency once had a role in investigating EMF radiation; that role must be revived, ensuring cross-agency collaboration with the FDA and NTP.
- Overhaul FCC Guidelines: It is time to replace thermal-only SAR and power density limits with exposure standards reflecting modern biology, including children’s vulnerability and 24/7 non-thermal effects.
- Repeal or Amend Section 704: Local governments should no longer be gagged from citing health concerns. True democracy demands that communities have a say in safeguarding their own residents.
- Enforce Public Law 90-602: The FDA must be held accountable for failing to act on the NTP’s findings. Congress must ensure the law is actively enforced rather than ignored to protect corporate profits.
Repercussions if We Fail
- Worsening Public Health Crisis: Continuing to ignore non-thermal effects ensures an ever-growing toll of chronic illnesses—cancers, neurological issues, fertility problems—linked to relentless wireless radiation.
- Liability Tsunami: As more evidence accumulates, the wireless industry faces potential lawsuits reminiscent of Big Tobacco. This could unravel entire sectors of telecommunications.
- Technological Regression: By failing to adopt safer standards now, we sabotage innovation that could deliver safer communication technologies (e.g., fiber optics, safer device design).
End the 50-Year Betrayal
America is now decades into a grand deception that downplayed or suppressed the non-thermal hazards of wireless radiation. The 1971 Naval Research laid out the early warnings. The NTP’s 2018 results confirmed the reality of serious harm—only to have its funding pulled. And all the while, unconstitutional laws like Section 704 have gagged Americans from using health evidence to defend themselves. These acts are not merely oversights; they are deliberate betrayals of public health and a subversion of Public Law 90-602, which explicitly requires full protection from all forms of harmful electronic radiation.
We must restore the NTP, enforce public law, and finally abandon the fraud of “thermal-only” standards. Anything less perpetuates a national disgrace—one that leaves Americans exposed to known risks in direct violation of the very laws enacted to protect them.
It’s time to put science, integrity, and public well-being above corporate interests. Refund the NTP. End the cover-up. Honor the law. Our children and future generations deserve nothing less.
