World Health Organization reviews whether radio waves and phone signals harm health
Original title: Health risks of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields, and the World Health Organization's programme.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This looks across many earlier studies rather than running a new one.
This is a review of research that already exists, not a new treatment you can get.
The short version
Reviews of the research so far did not find that radio waves, like those from mobile phones, raise brain cancer risk in people.
What was studied. The World Health Organization paid for 13 large reviews of past research on radiofrequency waves. These are the waves used by mobile phones, radio, and TV, from 100kHz to 300GHz. The reviews looked at studies in people and studies in animals.
What they found. In studies of people, the reviews found no added risk for most health effects. The confidence in that went up to moderate, which is the top level for this kind of study. Some results hinted at effects on thinking and on sperm health, but confidence in those was very low. In animal studies, male rats had more glioma: A tumor that starts in the glial cells, the support cells of the brain and spinal cord. Gliomas are graded 1 to 4 by how fast they tend to grow. See the glossary, a type of brain tumor, and more heart tumors called schwannoma. Confidence in the animal results was high.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: If you use a mobile phone, the human research so far has not shown that it raises your risk of brain cancer. The World Health Organization will use these reviews to set safety guidelines and advice on good practice.
What it doesn't mean: This is not a treatment and it is not a cure for anything. It does not prove that radio waves are completely safe. The tumors were seen in male rats, and the authors say it is still an open question whether rat results apply to people. The parts about thinking and sperm rest on weak evidence. This is a summary of past studies, not a new finding, and the guidelines based on it are not written yet.
Source: PubMed, July 17, 2026 · Read the original
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