Cell phones do not cause brain and head cancer, even when used for a long time or over many years. This is confirmed by a comprehensive review of available data, commissioned by the World Health Organization and published in the journal Environment International.
Cell phones, like anything that uses wireless technology, including laptops and televisions, emit radio frequency electromagnetic radiation, or radio waves.
Based on some early studies showing that there could be a possible association with brain cancer from long-term use of these phones, the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has designated radiofrequency fields from cell phones as a ‘possible’ cancer risk, a category that includes hundreds of other agents.
Since then, several more extensive cohort studies have been published with varying results. The latest is the new systematic review led by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (Arpansa), which examined over 5,000 studies, identifying the most scientifically rigorous.
The final analysis included 63 human observational studies published between 1994 and 2022, making it the most comprehensive review to date. “We concluded that the evidence does not show a link between mobile phones and brain cancer or other head and neck cancers,” said lead author Associate Professor Ken Karipidis, vice-chair of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection.
The review found no association between cell phone use and cancer, no association with long-term use (use for 10 years or more) or with amount of use (time spent on the phone). This is evidenced by the fact that “even as cell phone use has skyrocketed, brain cancer rates have remained stable,” Karipidis said.