Scientists Determine Whether Cell Phones Cause Brain Cancer for Sure
- A recent review of previous research determines whether cell phone radiation causes brain cancer.
- The results of the review indicate that there is little chance that cell phone radiation will increase an individual's risk of brain cancer.
- Researchers found that the substantial increase in the use of wireless technology over the past 20 years has not coincided with an increase in brain cancer.
You may have heard rumors over the last decade that the radio waves your cell phone emits could cause cancer. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently ordered a new review to investigate whether cell phones cause cancer.
In a systematic review published in Environment International, 63 of the more than 5,000 studies published between 1994 and 2022 were included in the final analysis. Research on brain cancer and other cancers of the central nervous system, including pituitary tumors, gliomas, meningiomas, and acoustic neuromas, was the focus of the review.
Researchers found no link between brain cancer and either prolonged (ten years or more) or time-consuming (number of calls or time spent on the device) cell phone use, despite the notable increase in wireless technology use over the past 20 years.
Furthermore, they found no increased risks of brain cancer or leukemia in kids who were near phone towers, TV transmitters, or radio masts.
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This report contested the International Agency for Research on Cancer's (IARC) 2013 designation of radiowave exposure as potentially carcinogenic, or cancer-causing. Despite the fact that the decision caused a great deal of distress, this classification is not very important. The IARC has numerous cancer risk classifications, including "definite" carcinogens like tobacco use and "possible" carcinogens like radio waves. This rating is just one of them.
The IARC's classification of radio wave exposure from your phone as potentially increasing your risk of developing cancer "was largely based on limited evidence from human observational studies" at the time, according to a statement from review author and associate professor Ken Karipidis of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA).
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In the statement, Karipidis said, "This systematic review of human observational studies is based on a much larger dataset compared to that examined by the IARC, which also includes more recent and comprehensive studies, so we can be more confident that exposure to radio waves from wireless technology is not a human health hazard."
Daniel Landau, M.D., a board-certified hematologist and oncologist at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, said the study confirms what many people had suspected. Non-ionizing radiation is the term used to describe the radiation that cell phones emit. The more dangerous type of radiation is ionizing radiation, which is created by nuclear bombs and other nuclear materials. He claims that ionizing radiation harms DNA, which can result in the growth of cancer.
The end outcome
According to board-certified hematologist and oncologist Nelly Awkar-Lazo, M.D., of The Oncology Institute of Hope and Innovation, radio-frequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) were identified by the IARC as potentially carcinogenic to humans in May 2011. Mobile phone use, however, is unlikely to increase the risk of brain cancer, including gliomas, meningiomas, and acoustic neuromas, according to this systematic review of multiple studies, she says.
"We thought a clear link would have surfaced by now if there really was a connection between cell phones and cancer risk," Dr. Landau says. However, he would still suggest limiting cell phone use or, at the very least, trying to avoid holding our phones close to our heads for long periods of time. "Even though the study may have missed other risks, some of which may not be cancer," says Dr. Landau, "I do feel that a study like this offers us reassurance."