Science Has Found No Link To Brain Cancer

The WHO has sifted through 28 years of research: no link between the telephone and cancers of the brain, head or neck. Meanwhile, France displayed its SARs and withdrew iPhones.

In 2011, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified radiofrequencies as “possibly carcinogenic” (group 2B, a category that also includes aloe vera and pickled vegetables). The cautious formula was enough to install fifteen years of doubt: electrosensitivity, distrust of antennas, trial of intent with 5G. The smartphone has become the most monitored object in our pockets, in the health sense of the term.

Two researchers from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI, Australia), Sarah Diepstraten and John La Marca, have just compiled in The Conversation the results of the 13 scientific reviews commissioned by the WHO in 2019. Their conclusion is contained in one sentence: the data establishes no association between telephone waves and cancers of the brain, head or neck.

63 studies, 22 countries, zero links: the WHO’s large inventory

The centerpiece of the file is a systematic review published in Environment International and managed by the Australian Radiation Protection Authority (ARPANSA). More than 5,000 publications scrutinized, 63 selected for their methodological solidity, covering 28 years of data (1994-2022) in 22 countries. No link to brain tumorsregardless of the duration of use, its intensity or the seniority of the subscriber, including beyond ten years of daily telephone use.

Read also: iPhone and birth rate – a study accuses your smartphone of being at the origin of the drop in births

The old ancillary fears fall with the same record: proximity to radio or television antennas shows no association with childhood leukemia. Brain cancer data has even been given the highest level of certainty possible for observational studies. And the most telling argument does not come from a laboratory but from a curve: the use of mobile phones has exploded over the past twenty years, but brain cancer rates have not kept up. If waves caused tumors, two decades of global adoption would have produced an outbreak. It never took place. “Current exposure limits are likely safe”summarize the two researchers.

DAS plastered, iPhone 12 removed, hands-free kit imposed: France can take a breather

The news takes on a particular flavor when seen from France, European champion of precaution in terms of waves. The SAR is displayed on every advertisement and every label on the shelf. The sale of a telephone without a hands-free kit is prohibited by the public health code. The Abeille law of 2015 banned wifi from nurseries. And in September 2023, ANFR made Apple fold by removing the iPhone 12 from sale for a DAS member above the limit, before a software update brings it back to shelves.

ANSES itself delivered its verdict last November, after having examined nearly a thousand studies: no link found between radio frequencies and the appearance of cancers. Despite everything, the agency maintains its recommendations of caution for children, and points to still open questions regarding fertility and brain function. WEHI researchers recognize the same gray areas (fertility, tinnitus, headaches), due to lack of sufficient data to make a decision. The cancer file closes, not the waves file.

For you, concretely: the SAR of your next smartphone is regulatory data, not a medical prognosis, and the hands-free kit is now more about comfort than survival. The WHO has yet to publish its official summary of the 13 reviews, but the direction is clear. Fifteen years of psychosis leading to a dismissal of the case: the smartphone remains a proven danger for your sleep, your attention, but in this area, no meta-analysis will reassure you.