Phones don’t give you brain cancer, study says

The use of wireless technology has increased over the past 20 years. Photo / 123rf
Scientists commissioned by WHO – including Kiwi Mark Elwood, professor of cancer epidemiology at the University of Auckland – found no rise in the incidence of brain tumours despite an increase in wireless technology.
Mobile phones do not cause brain cancer, a five-year study commissioned by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has concluded.
Australian scientists sifted through 5000 studies and found that, despite the increase in wireless technology over the past 20 years, there has been no subsequent rise in the incidence of brain tumours or evidence of a link to cancer.
It is estimated that around 98% of the adult population of Britain now uses a mobile phone, and there were fears that the growing use could bring a wave of health problems.
In 2013, the International Agency for Research on Cancer said the electromagnetic fields produced by mobile phones could “possibly” cause cancer after some studies suggested tumours were more likely in those who used their mobile phones frequently.
However, experts from the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency found research was often biased and relied on self-reporting of phone use by people looking for a reason for their tumours.
Researchers said the public should be reassured by the findings and have called on the International Agency for Research on Cancer to rethink warnings suggesting mobiles could be carcinogenic.
Associate Professor Ken Karipidis, of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency, said: “The evidence from studies on humans does not show that mobile phones or other wireless equipment cause cancer.
“Even though mobile phone use has skyrocketed, brain cancer rates have remained quite stable. It’s good to know that results of the WHO systematic review align with this sort of evidence, which shows brain tumour rates have not increased.
“It’s important for us to continue our research. However, we can be quite confident there is no association between mobile phone use and brain tumours. Exposure to radio waves from wireless technology is not a human health hazard.”
The study, commissioned by the WHO in 2019, is the most comprehensive to date, looking at cancers of the brain, pituitary gland, salivary glands, and leukaemias.
The team found that people who had used a phone regularly for 10 years or more were at no greater risk than shorter-term users, and there was no link between cancer and the number of calls people made or the time they spent on their phones.
Mobile phones communicate by transmitting radio waves through a network of fixed antennae, known as base stations or phone masts.
Radio waves are electromagnetic fields in the wavelengths of 300 Hz to 300 GHz, which is a lower frequency and lower energy than visible light. Unlike ionising radiation, such as X-rays or gamma rays, they cannot break up molecules and damage cells.
In 2021, the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency agreed on a limit of radio wave exposure, above which members of the public and workers should not be exposed.
The team said mobile phone use was around one-third of the limit, while wi-fi was around 100 million times below it and television transmissions about three million times below. Established health effects only appear at 50 times above the limit.
Experts said exposure to radio waves had actually fallen over time as the number of base stations increased, meaning phones did not have to use so much power to connect.
Mark Elwood, a professor of cancer epidemiology at the University of Auckland, and a co-author of the study said: “For the main issue, mobile phones and brain cancers, we found no increased risk, even with 10-plus years exposure and the maximum categories of call time or number of calls.
“We also assessed 13 studies from 12 countries, studying whether more brain cancers were occurring in recent years, along with more cell phone use. These studies showed no major increases.
“Similarly, we found no increased risks of leukaemia or brain cancers in children in relationship to radio or TV transmitters or cell phone base stations. We also found no increased risk of brain cancers with occupational exposures in the manufacture or operation of equipment.”
The researchers said that although there were no major studies yet of 5G networks, studies of radar, which operates at similar high frequencies, showed an increased risk.
However, the team said they could not rule out other health effects. A Swiss study last year found that men who used their mobiles more than 20 times a day had a fifth lower sperm count than those who used them just once a week.