A credible study has found that cell phone use is not linked to brain cancer.
Users of mobile phones, which are made up of numerous electrical and electronic components, usually hold the device close to their heads. In addition, mobile phones emit radio waves, a type of non-ionizing radiation. These two factors have led to suspicions that mobile phones can cause brain cancer.
The Australian Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety Authority (ARPANSA), commissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO) and led by the research, examined 5,000 relevant studies published between 1994 and 2022. The final analysis included 63 observational studies involving humans.
According to the British Guardian, Ken Karipidis, deputy director of ARPANSA and the lead researcher, said, “We concluded (through an analysis of existing studies) that there is no link between mobile phones and brain cancer or other head and neck cancers.” The results of the study were published in the academic journal ‘Environment International’ on the 3rd (local time).
The researchers focused on cancers of the central nervous system (including the brain, meninges, pituitary gland, and ear), salivary gland tumors, and brain tumors. The analysis found no overall link between mobile phone use and cancer, even when the use was long-term (10 years or more). There was also no link to usage, such as the number of calls or the duration of calls.
“We are quite confident in our findings, as they show that despite the dramatic increase in mobile phone use, brain tumor rates have remained stable,” said Deputy Director Karipidis.
Like all things that use wireless technology, such as laptops and radios, cell phones emit radio frequency electromagnetic radiation, or radio waves. When people think of radiation, they think of nuclear radiation, so many people have vague feelings of anxiety. Furthermore, since people often hold their cell phones close to their heads, their concerns have grown.
The results of this study suggest that we no longer need to have vague fears.
“Radiation is basically the transfer of energy from one point to another. An example is ultraviolet radiation from the sun,” explained Deputy Director Charipidis, who is also Vice-President of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).
“We are exposed to low levels of radio waves in our everyday environment,” he added.
Concerns about the cancer risk of cell phones have persisted for a long time, with some early studies linking cell phones to brain cancer.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an affiliate of the World Health Organization, classified radio wave exposure as a possible human carcinogen in 2011. However, there was criticism that the IRAC relied on observational studies of brain cancer patients who reported using mobile phones more frequently than they actually did, thereby classifying it as a possible carcinogen.
Deputy Director-General Karipidis said that while the IARC classification has raised concerns among many people, “it is not a very significant classification,” adding that cellphone waves are being treated the same as hundreds of other substances, such as pickled vegetables or dry cleaning, where the evidence for harm is uncertain.
In addition, when looking at the link between male fertility and radio waves, they found no evidence of a link between cell phones and sperm count reductions. When looking at female fertility, they found some associations, such as an effect on the birth weight of newborns, but “the associations occurred when exposure to radio waves was well above the safety limit,” explained Deputy Director Karipidis.
Reporter Park Hae-sik, Donga.com [email protected]
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2024-09-04 16:55:29