Why the National Toxicology Program’s Wireless Research Must Resume Immediately
In 1968, Congress enacted Public Law 90-602, the Radiation Control for Health and Safety Act, with one core intent: to ensure that the health effects of radiation from electronic products would be continuously monitored, researched, and regulated. The law did not sunset. It remains on the books, binding the Secretary of Health and Human Services to maintain an active radiation control program, with enforcement delegated to the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health.
But for the past quarter century, that mandate has been buried.
The Law Was Clear – Continuous Oversight Required
Public Law 90-602 requires the Secretary to:
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“establish and carry out an electronic product radiation control program …” (21 U.S.C. §360ii)
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“by regulation prescribe performance standards for electronic products …” (21 U.S.C. §360kk)
This is not a suggestion. It is a standing order from Congress that research and regulation must continue indefinitely as new technologies emerge.
What Happened in the 1990s: Policy Capture
The Telecommunications Act of 1996—specifically Section 704—handed the FCC near-total authority over wireless infrastructure placement and effectively stripped local communities of the ability to challenge tower siting on health grounds. At the same time:
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The EPA’s RF radiation research budget was zeroed out in the mid-1990s.
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Oversight functions that belonged under HHS were sidelined.
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The FCC, a promotional agency for telecom, was left policing health and safety—something it was never designed to do.
This combination buried the ongoing responsibilities Congress had placed on HHS under Public Law 90-602.
The National Toxicology Program: Too Little, Too Late
The National Toxicology Program (NTP)’s wireless studies—completed in the late 2010s—were the closest thing the U.S. has had to real compliance with Public Law 90-602 in decades. Even then, they were years behind the curve, testing largely 2G and 3G exposures while industry was already rolling out 5G and preparing for 6G.
The NTP found “clear evidence” of cancer in male rats exposed to cell phone radiation. Under the law, such findings should have triggered more research, stricter standards, and immediate protective action. Instead, the program was terminated, leaving Americans exposed to ever-increasing doses of wireless radiation without updated safety standards.
The Reality: A Violation of Federal Law
When the NTP’s research was halted, it wasn’t just bad policy. It was a violation of Public Law 90-602:
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The Secretary of Health and Human Services failed to ensure continuous research and regulatory standards.
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The FDA (CDRH), as the delegated enforcer, failed to uphold its statutory duties.
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The U.S. government allowed corporate interests to bury science, externalizing the true health costs of wireless technology onto the public.
For nearly 25 years, Americans have lived without the lawful protections Congress required in 1968.
The Cost of Burying the Law
This failure means we are flying blind into a future of 6G, Wi-Fi 7, and satellite-to-phone networks, with no federally mandated research keeping pace. The result is a public health experiment without consent—precisely what Public Law 90-602 was designed to prevent.
Children, pregnant women, and workers are being exposed to new forms of pulsed microwave radiation at levels never tested in federally funded toxicology programs. Meanwhile, the burden of proof has been inverted: instead of industry proving safety, the public is left to prove harm after the damage is already done.
Conclusion: Accountability Must Begin at HHS
The law is not ambiguous. The Secretary of HHS is the official legally commanded to uphold Public Law 90-602. By halting wireless health research, HHS is in direct violation of that law. The FDA, as the delegated enforcer, shares in that failure.
Restarting and massively expanding the National Toxicology Program’s wireless research is not a matter of policy preference. It is a matter of legal compliance and the restoration of government accountability to the people it is sworn to protect.
Until then, Public Law 90-602 remains a statute on paper, betrayed in practice—buried by corporate capture and government neglect, while the public bears the cost in rising rates of cancer, neurological disorders, infertility, and developmental harm.