In today’s world mobile phones have become an indispensable part of life. We go everywhere with them and use them to interact with the world. It is often said that this relationship to our phones has had negative effects on our mental health and social wellbeing, but what about our physical health? In this article we will look at the results of a new review by the World Health Organization into use of mobile phones and brain cancer.
Since their introduction, there has been concerns about the potential health risks of prolonged mobile phone use. These fears stem from mobile phones use of radiofrequency electromagnetic energy, which some believe might damage cells and increase the rate at which cancer develops. One key concern has been brain cancer which may be caused by mobile phones being held close to the head.
The objective of the new review was to investigate if there is a potential cancer-causing affect from prolonged exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF). It involved the review of 63 articles published in 22 countries between 1994 and 2022.
The study found no evidence that long-term or heavy mobile phone use is associated with the risk of glioma, meningioma, or acoustic neuroma (brain tumors). There was also no correlation with pituitary and salivary cancers or leukemia. The occurrence of brain tumors among the 10% of participants with the largest total number of hours of mobile phone calls during their lifetime did not differ from the occurrence in participants who used mobile phones significantly less.
References:
Feychting M, Schüz J, Toledano MB, Vermeulen R, Auvinen A, Poulsen AH, et al. Mobile phone use and brain tumour risk – COSMOS, a prospective cohort study Environ Int, Published online 2 March 2024; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2024.108552
