United States – An international review revealing that cellphone usage does not cause brain cancer will be welcome news for individuals whose tumblers are kept busy jamming on their cell phones all day, as reported by HealthDay.
No increased cancer risk from cellphone radiation
The review was conducted by 11 WHO experts from 10 countries to analyze the data from 5,000 papers published between 1994 and 2023. The last examination was published in the journal Environmental International.
What was it that they were so obsessively searching for? They were attempting to establish whether an increased utilization of radio frequencies typical of most wireless electronics, including cell phones, would increase the likelihood of a brain cancer diagnosis.
The Search for Answers
What did they find? In 63 studies they focused on, no elevated risk of brain cancer was observed even when individuals used their cellphones for 10 years or more, spent much time on their cellphones, or made a large number of calls. They also found no higher risks of leukemia or brain cancer in children exposed to radio or TV transmitters or cellphone towers.
“These results are very reassuring,” lead study author Ken Karipidis told reporters, according to the Washington Post. While cellphone use has “skyrocketed, there has been no rise in the incidence of brain cancers,” he noted.
Earlier Concerns and Why They Changed
The first signs of a possible link appeared in 2011 when the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which is part of the WHO, classified radio wave exposure as a possible carcinogen based on limited evidence from observational studies, the Post said.
Karipidis noted that since that time, “many other studies have emerged” speaking about radio waves and they have been quite large, which is why the WHO has ordered the current overview.
Karipidis said his concern with some of the early research was it drew on case-control studies that contrasted answers given by people with brain cancer with that of those without it – which can be ‘somewhat biased.’
Modern Networks Emit Lower RF Levels
Not only that, but technically, newer generation cellphone networks such as 3G and 4G networks emit ‘substantially lower’ levels of RF [Radio Frequency] emissions than the older networks, said the review’s co-author Mark Elwood, an honorary professor of cancer epidemiology at the University of Auckland in New Zealand to the Post.
“There are no major studies yet of 5G networks, but there are studies of radar, which has similar high frequencies; these do not show an increased risk,” he added.
Karipidis pointed out the fact that with the increased number of cellphone towers out there, celphones emit less radiation because they do not have to go to great lengths to seek a signal.
Public Perception and Health Fears
As one of the experts said: ‘When techniques become popular and rapidly disseminated globally, there is always the specter of health issues’, as reported by HealthDay.
“Worries about the health effects of new technology are common and tend to increase when a new technology is adopted widely or adopted quickly,” Keith Petrie, a University of Auckland expert who was not involved in the review, told the Post. “This was seen during the COVID-19 pandemic when people attacked cell towers believing a baseless theory that 5G towers spread the coronavirus.”