WHO-backed review finds cellphones don’t increase risk of cancer

Review looked at three decades worth of studies in 10 different countries

There’s no connection between cancer and exposure to the radio frequency electromagnetic fields produced by cellphones and other widely used electronics like TV and radio transmitters, a review commissioned by the World Health Organization has found.

Eleven experts from 10 countries participated in the investigation, which reviewed roughly 5,000 studies published between 1994 and 2022, and found no increase risk of a range of cancers given exposure to the fields.

“These results are very reassuring,” Ken Karipidis, a lead author of the review and a government radiation regulator with the Australian government, toldThe Washington Post, noting that the use of electronics has “skyrocketed,” but “there has been no rise in the incidence of brain cancers.”

In addition to finding no overall association, the review also found that neither the amount nor duration of one’s mobile phone use was associated with the brain, pituitary gland, ear, meningers, and salivary gland cancers and tumors under consideration.

The review adds additional information to the WHO’s designation of radio wave exposure as a possible carcinogen in 2011. The classification does not signify a definitive link, but rather a topic warranting further study, putting the fields on par with other potential carcinogens like aloe vera, pickled vegetables, and working in a dry cleaner.

WHO will release updated classification on exposure to radio frequencies next year (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

"The main implications of this study are that, according to the best available evidence to date, exposure to radio-frequency electromagnetic fields, such as those produced by mobile phones or telephone antennas, does not appear to significantly increase the risk of developing cancer,” Alberto Nájera, a professor in physics at the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Spain who was not involved in the study, toldNewsweek.

"As always in science, the authors recommend continuing with epidemiological surveillance, especially in relation to new technologies such as 5G, as the evidence is still limited and some uncertainties persist; for instance, regarding long-term exposures and in more susceptible population subgroups,” he added.

The WHO will release a new evaluation on the frequencies in the first quarter of next year, Reuters reports.