My name is Joel Wright. I am in my 20s and am a U.S. citizen. At 18, I began suffering extreme health complications which I believe are directly caused by exposure to modern telecommunications equipment. I ask HHS to research the biology of my condition and set conservative emissions standards to protect future generations and allow people like me to rejoin society. I offer my testimony for any official proceedings. My hypothesis is simple: current ambient levels of non-ionizing radiation are unsafe. The environmental levels of ten years ago were high enough to collapse my health, and they have only intensified in the years since. The collapse was sudden and violent. I started college and a small business at 14; at 16 I earned Eagle Scout; at 18 I had a top ACT score. Yet, within months of graduating high school in 2017, that life ended. Bedridden, I suffered from agonizing neurological pain, memory loss, chronic fatigue, and extreme muscle spasms, among other symptoms. At times, I lost the ability to speak and walk. I was forced to abandon a full ride scholarship. We discovered in 2020 that the world’s most powerful technology was destroying my young body. There was no escape; the dangerous radiation emanates from homes, vehicles and every person’s purse or pants pocket. When the COVID lockdowns began and people fled an invisible virus, I fled invisible radiation, isolating from society in search of respite. The world adapted and reopened, but I persist in my lockdown. My current health comes at enormous cost. Until six months ago, this meant near-total isolation. I left home perhaps twice a year. I could not even attend church. The life my peers never consider, walking into a store, sitting in a crowd, carrying a phone, is for me a series of calculated risks. I follow strict regimens of diet and medication, controlling for stressors down to caffeine and sugar. Even now, visitors must leave their phones at the door, a request which I know sounds unreasonable, costing me standing each time I ask. Maintaining my dignity spends that same dignity in the eyes of others; to be young without a phone is unthinkable. It has cost me opportunities, friendships, dating,…
Read the full comment →