Review: The Alchemy That Powers the Modern World

D o cell phones and 5G cause cancer? It’s a question that has plagued Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — and if Kennedy is confirmed as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, it’s one he will have power to explore.

“The next-generation telecommunications network should be discontinued until it has been ‘sufficiently demonstrated that there are no real and serious health risks,’” Kennedy wrote on X in 2020. Kennedy did not respond to a request for comment.

In a July 2024 episode of his podcast, Kennedy spoke at length about what he saw as the risks of cell phone radiation and how he believed research into the topic has been systematically suppressed by the telecommunications industry.

The amount of radiation produced by cell phones is regulated by two agencies: the Food and Drug Administration, which generates recommendations for reducing health risks, and the Federal Communications Commission, which turns those recommendations into regulations for manufacturers and cell phone service providers. Other agencies are also involved in cell phone radiation research, including the National Toxicology Program, which is part of the National Institutes of Health. Both the FDA and the NIH are part of HHS.

Many experts say that research has not shown a correlation between the kind of radiation produced by cell phones and the health issues that Kennedy has said they can cause, including cancer.

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