A World Health Organization-backed study of brain cancer and cell phone use found no connection between the two.
Radiation emitted by mobile devices has been a concern for decades and was declared a potential human carcinogen by the WHO cancer agency in 2011.
But the new review, based on dozens of studies dating back to 1994, found no association between cellphone use and cancer, even among people who spend all day making calls or using their smartphones.
Ken Karipidis, one of the study’s lead authors, said the results “are very encouraging,” especially considering that cellphone use has “skyrocketed.”
A World Health Organization-backed study into brain cancer and mobile phone use has found no link between the two (file)
Karipidis, who works for Australia’s Radiation and Nuclear Protection Authority, added: “There has been no increase in the incidence of brain cancers.”
The panel of experts investigated whether there was any link between cancers of the brain and salivary glands and leukemia, and exposure to radio waves commonly used by wireless technology such as cell phones, television and baby monitors.
The final analysis included 63 studies from 1994 to 2022, assessed by 11 researchers from 10 countries, including the Australian government’s Radiation Protection Authority.
Despite the huge increase in the use of wireless technology, there has not been an equally large increase in the incidence of cancers, the study found.
This was true even among people who often make long phone calls or who have used mobile phones for more than a decade.
Co-author Mark Elwood, a professor of cancer epidemiology at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, said: “None of the main questions studied showed increased risks,” he said.
The review follows other similar work. The WHO and other international health bodies have previously said there is no definitive evidence of adverse health effects from radiation used by mobile phones, but have called for further research.
It is currently classified as “possibly carcinogenic”, or class 2B, by the WHO’s cancer agency, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
The category used when the agency cannot rule out a potential link and includes other common products such as talcum powder and aloe vera.
The WHO advisory group has called for the wireless radiation classification to be re-evaluated as soon as possible, taking into account new data since its last assessment in 2011.
The WHO assessment will be published in the first quarter of next year.
Previous research has linked cellphone radiation to brain cancers, but Karipidis said those early studies were flawed.
For example, some were based on case-control studies that compared the responses of people with brain cancer versus those without the disease.
This may introduce bias because people with brain tumors “tend to overreport their exposure.” said Karipidis.
