WHO: Evidence Does Not Support a Link Between Cell Phones and Brain Cancer

Oncologists are often asked by people around them whether cell-phone radiation causes brain cancer. In the past many voices have claimed that cell-phone radiation is carcinogenic, and that using cell phones, communication base stations, or communication transmitters may cause brain cancer. But a WHO survey report released on September 3, 2024 shows that such claims are unfounded.

The WHO conducted an extensive global review covering 63 studies from 1994 to 2022, evaluated by 11 researchers from 10 countries and regions, specifically examining the risk of brain cancer, salivary-gland cancer, and leukemia in adults and children, and assessing whether these diseases are linked to cell-phone use, communication base stations or transmitters, or occupational exposure to electromagnetic radiation.

The results show that radiation frequencies from cell phones, televisions, baby monitors, and radis do not affect the human body as badly as people once imagined, and have not led to any significant rise in the incidence of the above diseases. Despite the dramatic increase in wireless technology use, the incidence of brain cancer has not correspondingly risen. In the past the WHO classified cell-phone radiation as a "possible carcinogen," Group 2B—reserved when an association cannot be determined but cannot be ruled out.

Science must be guided by data, not by feeling. People once commonly believed that cell-phone radiation causes cancer; that belief may now need to change. Of course, long-term cell-phone use causes many problems, such as visual fatigue, cervical spondylosis, and chronic strain; excessive phone use is certainly not a good habit. But the idea that cell-phone radiation causes cancer is also an assumption.