A new systematic review commissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO) found no link between cell phone use and brain cancer.
Cell Phones Are Currently Classified as a ‘Possible Carcinogen’ to Humans
This new analysis is the most comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the evidence on cell phones and brain cancer to date, said lead author Ken Karipidis, PhD, adjunct associate professor at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, and scientist at the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency, in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Australia’s national public media service.
“This review really confirms what we have known for quite a while about the effects of non-ionizing radiation from cell phones and similar sources,” says Timothy Rebbeck, PhD, a professor of cancer prevention at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.
“I think it’s clear at this point that cancer risks are not elevated from these exposures,” says Dr. Rebbeck, who was not involved in the review.
What’s Behind the Concern That Cell Phones May Cause Cancer?
There are two main reasons why there has been concern that mobile phones might have the potential to cause certain types of cancer or other health problems.
Cell phones emit radiation in the form of radio waves, and because cell phone use is widespread, even a small increase in cancer risk from cell phones would be concerning, given how many people use them.
Cell Phone Use Has Skyrocketed, But Brain Cancer Incidence Has Not
How wireless technology affects health is one of the most researched health topics, said Karipidis. “Our review considered over 5,000 studies published between 1994 and 2022, of which 63 were included in the final analysis,” he said.
Researchers also looked at additional data on cell phone use and cancer incidence, and performed modeling experiments.
Based on their analysis, investigators found:
- No association between long term use (use of a phone for more than 10 years) and brain cancer incidence
- No link between the amount of use — either the number of calls or the time that people spend on the phone — and brain cancer
Finally, given that there are billions of people who use a mobile phone, investigators believe that if a link existed, there would have been a rise in the rates of cancers in the brain and neck.
“So although mobile phone use skyrocketed since, I think it was 1987 that the first mobile phone came into the market, the rates of brain cancer for both men and women have remained very stable, so we’ve seen no increase in brain cancer,” said Karipidis in the radio interview.
Researchers also performed simulation studies, where they modeled what cancer rates would look like if an association did exist. These models confirmed that the rates would be much higher than they currently are if there was truly an association between mobile phone use and brain cancer.
New 5G Phones Not Included in Study
Since 5G “fifth generation” phones have only recently come to market, they weren’t included in the review.
Karipidis doesn’t believe that omission changes the findings.
“So throughout the years, we had 1G, then 2G, 3G, 4G, and now 5G. They’re just marketing names,” he said.
It’s basically the same technology, and in fact, some of the first phones actually exposed people to more radio waves, said Karipidis in his conversation with ABC.
Findings May Lead IARC to Review Mobile Phone’s Classification as ‘Possible Carcinogen’
It’s possible that the International Agency for Research on Cancer may review the categorization of mobile phones, said Karipidis in a WHO press conference about the findings.
It’s important to note that though the category “possible carcinogen” may sound scary, it doesn’t mean that there’s a lot of evidence, he said. For example, he said, aloe vera is also considered a possible carcinogen by the agency.
The cell phone classification itself was quite controversial at the time, he added.
“A lot of people felt that maybe it shouldn’t have been classified as possibly carcinogenic. I think there’s enough evidence to look at this issue again,” said Karipidis.
This research, in addition to other existing studies, should be enough to convince those who make the guidelines that there is no excess cancer risk, says Rebbeck.
“I don’t think additional research is needed to understand the non-ionizing radiation effects on cancer,” he says.
