Can cellphones cause brain cancer? What are the risk factors of brain cancer? Questions like these have plagued adults and parents for a long, especially since various rumors tend to link technology with dreadful diseases like cancer. To the first question, a recent WHO review says "no."
A recent review by the World Health Organization (WHO) finds no link between cellphone usage and brain cancer. The research, which reviewed scores of articles from 22 different countries, debunks a previous rating from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) that mobile phones were “possibly carcinogenic.”
According to the study, while cell phone radiation and wireless technology have skyrocketed in recent years, brain cancer rates haven’t risen at corresponding rates. Here are more details about WHO’s findings.
WHO Exempts Cell Phones from List of Risk Factors of Brain Cancer
The panel of experts conducted a meta-analysis of 63 articles published in 22 countries between 1994 and 2022, investigating the health effects of exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) transmitted by mobile phones. While mobile phones emit RF-EMF, the research finds that they do so only at "harmless" rates.
The electromagnetic (radio) waves that mobile phones emit to their destinations through a series of fixed antennas are reportedly incapable of breaking chemical bonds or ionizing human bodies to damage DNA. Meanwhile, TVs and baby monitors also emit RF-EMF, as many other modern devices.
Earlier, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the WHO's cancer agency, previously classified radio wave exposure as a potential carcinogen to humans in 2011 – based on "limited evidence from observational studies." While the IARC report didn't classify radio waves as "definite carcinogens" – like the chemicals from cigarette smoke – it, however, raised growing concerns about the use of mobile phones.
The IARC also identified talcum powder and aloe vera as possible carcinogens, "based on limited evidence." The cancer agency's suggestions have also triggered multiple studies and research works on the potential carcinogenicity of radio waves/cell phones.
However, Ken Karipidis, a lead author of WHO's review, explains that the earlier research works were limited due to their use of case-control studies that compared the responses of individuals diagnosed with brain cancer against those without the ailment. Karipidis said such studies were "somewhat biased" as a respondent with a brain tumor tends to overreport their exposure because they "want to know why they've got the brain tumor."
Debunking Further “Malignant” Claims on Cellphone Usage
The WHO review debunks even more claims that using cell phones could cause any form of cancerous growth, even for people who spend long hours using a mobile device. According to the research, there was no correlation between cell phone usage and an increased risk of gliomas, meningiomas, and acoustic neuromas. It also found no link between symptoms of other cancer forms like pituitary and salivary cancers or leukemia and cellphone usage.
The research also discovered no evidence between exposure from fixed-site RF-EMF transmitters like broadcasting antennas or cell phone towers and childhood leukemia or pediatric brain tumors. Reports and rumors linking both situations have reportedly stirred concerns for many parents worldwide. Additionally, WHO's latest research finds no connection between fixed workplace RF-EMF transmitters and an increase in the incidence of gliomas.
Conclusion
A recent WHO review of 63 articles from 22 countries finds no connection between cell phone usage and brain cancer. While mobile phones emit electromagnetic waves, the WHO report finds that the emissions are harmless and have no correlation with the occurrence of brain tumors or other forms of malignant growth in humans.
The review allays fears that prolonged mobile phone usage or exposure to radio waves and wireless networks could cause malignant growth in humans.