WHO-backed meta-study finds no evidence that cellphone radiation causes brain cancer

Time to take off the tin foil hat: A review of 28 years of research into the health effects of radio wave exposure from cellphones has found no evidence to link the handhelds to brain cancer, or negative effects on health more generally. 

The findings, published recently in Environment International and commissioned and partially funded by the World Health Organization (WHO), looked at 63 studies published between 1994 and 2022 from 22 countries.

Various types of brain and head cancers in adults and children, as well as whole-body exposure from proximity to broadcast antenna and base stations and occupational radio frequency/electromagnetic field (RF-EMF), were looked at as part of the meta-study. In no case did the researchers find a link between radio wave exposure from mobile and wireless devices and brain cancer. Note that RF-EMF is part of the non-ionizing radiation region of the electromagnetic spectrum, making it inherently and substantially less dangerous than ionizing radiation.

"This systematic review provides the strongest evidence to date that radio waves from wireless technologies are not a hazard to human health," Sarah Loughran, director of radiation research and advice at the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA), and assistant director of health impact assessment Ken Karipidis, wrote in The Conversation about the research.

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