IN a triumph for real science, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been forced to make a humiliating U-turn and admit that radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF EMFs) can cause cancer and infertility in animals. This means they will have to review smartphone advice given to humans, which to date has been that any health risk is small.
RF EMFs are emitted by smartphones, cell towers and broadcasting antennas, and for decades people have complained that they cause health issues, which the WHO fought hard to downplay. But in May they had to review their advice after a study they partially funded, titled ‘Effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic field exposure on cancer in laboratory animal studies, a systematic review,’ published in Science Direct, showed a direct correlation between mobile phone use and cancer and infertility in animals.
A group of international scientists, led by Professor Meike Mevissen from the Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology Division of Bern University in Switzerland, reviewed 52 animal studies, conducted over two years or more. They found a ‘high level of evidence’ that RF EMFs caused brain tumours and heart tumours, and a ‘moderate level of evidence’ linking them to lymphoma (blood cancer), adrenal gland tumours, liver and lung tumours.
An Italian team of scientists led by Dr Eugenia Cordelli from the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), based in Rome, looked at animal fertility and found that nine ‘fairly reliable’ studies showed females were 1.7 times less likely to become pregnant after mating with RF EMF exposed males. Two other ‘less reliable’ studies showed an even higher risk with the odds extending to 2.8 times less likely to conceive.
Does this mean RF EMFs have the same effect on people? According to the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), RF EMFs are only ‘possibly’ carcinogenic to humans based on ‘limited’ evidence suggesting a ‘potential’ link between RF EMF exposure and certain cancers. They insisted the evidence was not strong enough to establish a ‘definitive causal relationship’. These studies show the opposite is true.
In a press release, the International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields (ICBE-EMF), an independent consortium of doctors, scientists and researchers, said, ‘Notably, the same types of tumours have also been observed in human studies, adding significant confidence that the associations observed in human studies are real.’
The group are calling for immediate action to protect public health and the environment and say that further delay could have serious consequences, thanks to the global surge in wi-fi devices. They said: ‘Given this high level of certainty, government policymakers worldwide should immediately move to revise their RF radiation exposure limits to protect public health and the environment.’
The ICBE-EMF also said: ‘In 2011, IARC classified RF EMF as a Group 2B “possible” human carcinogen, noting limited animal evidence. Since then, major animal studies – including those by the US National Toxicology Program and the Ramazzini Institute – have found that RF radiation exposure causes cancer in rats.’
Dr Ron Melnick, chair of the ICBE-EMF and former senior toxicologist and Director of Special Programs at the National Toxicology Program and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), said: ‘The evidence is now clear: cell phone radiation can cause cancer in animals in concordance with the tumour types identified in human studies of mobile phone users. As animal studies are essential for predicting cancer risk in humans, governments should develop science-based safety standards to protect human health. The conclusion of the study commissioned by the WHO shows that the long-standing assumption current government limits are based on – that cell phone RF radiation can only cause harm through tissue heating – is wrong.’
