An obscure section of the big budget bill on the verge of being approved by Congress will pave the way for us to be exposed to even more harmful radiation from electromagnetic fields (EMF). Action Alert!
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THE TOPLINE
- A hidden provision in Congress’s new budget bill would let the FCC auction off more electromagnetic spectrum, dramatically increasing EMF radiation exposure through more antennas, stronger signals, and denser wireless infrastructure—without updated safety standards.
- The FCC’s exposure limits haven’t been meaningfully revised since 1996 and fail to account for long-term, non-thermal biological effects, despite mounting scientific evidence and a 2021 court order demanding action.
- Renewing the FCC’s auction authority without first addressing these outdated standards prioritizes telecom expansion over public health and environmental safety.
Are you worried about the health effects of EMF radiation, particularly given the explosion of devices and antennas emitting specific forms of these waves used to power the Internet of Things (IoT)? It’s about to get a whole lot worse courtesy of a small provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill moving through Congress right now. This provision renews the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) ability to auction off parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. If this becomes law, carriers across the country can add almost unlimited additional antenna and power output on their existing facilities to emit EMF radiation using the new spectrum – despite no US government agency assessing these emissions for safety.
As we’ve written many times, there are serious questions about the safety of now ubiquitous and ever-increasing dosages of EMF exposures from wireless tech for human and environmental health. Yet the telecom industry, aided by their friends in the federal government, have continued to rapidly expand 5G infrastructure, railroading local communities into accepting their demands while ignoring the mounting research finding real human health risks resulting from this technology.
H.R. 1, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” passed the House in late May and was recently approved by the Senate with amendments. As of this writing, it is up for a full vote in the House, where it is expected to pass and be sent to President Trump to sign into law.
More Spectrum = More Wireless Infrastructure = More EMF Radiation
When Congress authorizes the FCC to auction off more of the electromagnetic spectrum, they’re giving telecom companies access to new “lanes” of wireless traffic. To use those lanes, companies must build more infrastructure—including more antennas and transmitters—and often boost the power output of existing equipment. This means:
- More antennas installed in more places, including near homes, schools, and workplaces.
- Stronger and more frequent signals being broadcast to cover new frequency bands.
- A denser and more powerful wireless network, especially as 5G and future technologies expand.
The result? A dramatic increase in our exposure to EMF radiation, without any updated safety standards from the federal government. While the technology surges forward, public health protections remain stuck in the 1990s.
Safety First Second Third…
The FCC is the agency charged with regulating broadband waves and ensuring public health is not endangered, and they have utterly failed. Current EMF exposure standards are based largely on animal experiments from over 40 years ago dealing with exposures that lasted an hour. The FCC’s exposure limits remain almost entirely unchanged since 1996 and they are designed only to protect against heating effects of short-term exposures, not biological impacts from long term exposure.
It is obvious that EMF exposures and technology use have changed dramatically since 1996, necessitating updated safety standards. The courts have agreed. In 2021, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled that the FCC failed to consider non-cancer evidence of adverse health effects related to EMF exposure. The court ordered the FCC to provide an explanation for why it decided not to update its human exposure limits for wireless radiation. For over three years, the FCC has ignored this court order—and now Congress is poised to renew the FCC’s authority to sell access to larger swaths of spectrum and expose us to even more of the EMF radiation for which they refuse to update their safety standards. (We’ve seen similar negligence from the FCC when it comes to cell phone safety standards, too.)
There is something deeply wrong with this picture.
The latest science is demonstrating a host of disturbing health effects that can result from EMF exposures from human-made sources. These include increased cancer risk, neurological effects (increased blood-brain barrier permeability, deficits in spatial learning, sleep disturbance, and more), sperm damage and decreased sperm motility, oxidative stress and DNA damage, and synergistic adverse effects when combined with other toxic agents.
Yes, wireless devices have changed how we live, and the genie cannot go back in the bottle. But the federal agency meant to protect us is flatly refusing to do so. The FCC must take a fresh look at the evidence and updates its exposure standards until it is granted authority to auction off more spectrum.
Action Alert!
