The association of mobile phones with diseases like cancer has always been one of the most controversial aspects of this technology. According to data from Statista, by 2023, more than 1.4 billion mobile phones will be sold, most of them smartphones; if it is true that these devices are responsible for millions of deaths in recent decades, we would be facing one of the greatest self-inflicted disasters by humanity.
This is not an unfounded fear. It is well known that prolonged exposure to radiation increases the risk of cancer; the key lies in the type of radiation. In the early 1990s, when cell phones were real “bricks” with gigantic antennas that remained close to our brains for hours, the panic seemed justified.
Since then, we’ve learned a lot about the health effects of radiation, including the radio waves used by cell phones; but what we’ve discovered hasn’t always been reassuring. In 2016, a study found a link between cell phone radiation and tumor formation in rats; and that was after the U.S. National Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) declared radio waves a possible carcinogen in 2011. All with the approval of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Now, it is the same WHO that intends, without however completely closing the subject, to offer the most complete conclusion to date, with the largest study on the effect of mobile phones on cancer in humans. This is a work that has covered no less than three decades of data, from 1994 to 2022, analyzing data from more than 5,000 studies and data from 22 participating countriesIn other words, it is the most comprehensive study that has been carried out on the subject, and therefore the one that is most likely to be right.
And the conclusion of the study is clear: Cell phones do not cause cancer. The first reason is logical: although cell phone use has exploded in the last 20 years, with more cell phones sold than people in the world, there has been no corresponding growth in brain tumor cases. The proportion of brain tumor cases in the population has remained more or less stable since 1982; if cell phones really do cause cancer, the proportion should be higher.
The study found no relationship between cell phone use and the possibility of contracting cancer. In fact, even among users who have been using their cell phones daily for more than 10 years, no link has been established with an increase in cancer cases.
In addition to brain tumors, the study looked at other types of cancer in areas near the head and neck. It also considered possible effects related to mobile phone use, such as cell phone towers; the researchers They found no link between the position of the antennas and the cases of cancer, nor in jobs where employees received more radio frequencies.
Regarding the declaration of radio waves as carcinogenic in the United States, the researchers say that the IARC declaration was based on “limited evidence in humans”; its study draws on a much larger database and on more complete and more recent studies than those used at the time. Despite all this, the researchers “are confident” in their conclusion that exposure to radio waves from wireless technology is not a danger to human health.