Cell Phones
Cell Phones
In order to connect to local cell towers and relay voice, texts, and data, all cell phones all utilize radio-frequency radiation, also known as microwave radiation. Cell phones use the same frequencies as microwave ovens: 2.45 GHz, as well as 5.0 GHz.
Microwaves ovens use a higher degree of power, and so can cook food very quickly. Yet these frequencies, even at lower power, are dangerous, particularly when used long-term and close to the body and brain.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a branch of the World Health Organization, classified radiation from cell phones (radio-frequency radiation or RFR) as a “possible human carcinogen” in 2011, and encouraged more research to confirm epidemiological studies pointing to more serious cancer risks.
IARC is expected to reclassify RFR in the near future, particularly given the numerous studies that point to far more significant harm.
NTP it based in NC’s Research Triangle Park. It is part of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
National Toxicology Program Study & Others
“Clear evidence of carcinogenesis” is what the National Toxicology Program and its peer reviewers found in 2018, from their gold-standard, $30 million study of cell phone radiation.
NTP also found DNA damage, cardiomyopathy (the precursor to congestive heart failure), and low birth weight. One of the two full reports is found here.
Following the initial release of NTP’s findings in 2016, the American Academy of Pediatrics – representing roughly 67,000 pediatric practitioners – provided crucial wellness tips on safer cell phone use, found here.
The Ramazzini Institute, based in Italy and renowned for its high-quality studies on environmental health, found essentially the same results as NTP, yet at much lower levels of exposure in 2018. The radiation emissions in this study were very similar to those emitted by cell towers.
U.C. Berkeley School of Public Health’s director of their Center for Family & Community Health, Dr. Joel Moskowitz, authored this meta-analysis in 2020: Cellular Phone Use and Risk of Tumors: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Dr Moskowitz’s team found: “In sum, the updated comprehensive meta-analysis of case-control studies found significant evidence linking cellular phone use to increased tumor risk, especially among cell phone users with cumulative cell phone use of 1000 or more hours in their lifetime (about 17 min per day over 10 years), and especially among studies that employed high quality methods.”