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Journalism of Courage
A study commissioned by the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has concluded that there is a link between high levels of radio frequency radiation (RFR) — like that used in 2G and 3G cellphones — and cancerous heart tumors in male rats, which were exposed to high-level RFR.
According to final reports of the study, there is clear evidence that male rats exposed to high levels of radio frequency radiation developed these tumours.
There was also some evidence of tumors in the brain and adrenal gland of exposed male rats. For female rats, and male and female mice, the evidence was ambiguous as to whether cancers observed were associated with exposure to RFR.
The study began 10 years ago when the US National Toxicology Programme (NTP) – housed in the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, a part of the US National Institutes of Health – was nominated to do the study on effects of RFR.
In the NTP studies, the report notes, exposure was way more than what happens through average duration of cellphone usage.
NTP senior scientist John Bucher said, “The exposures used in the studies cannot be compared directly to the exposure that humans experience when using a cellphone. In our studies, rats and mice received radio frequency radiation across their whole bodies. By contrast, people are mostly exposed in specific local tissues close to where they hold the phone.”
Moreover, he said, “exposure levels and durations in our studies were greater than what people experience”.
The lowest exposure level used for the study was equal to the maximum local tissue exposure currently allowed for cellphone users, the report states. This power level rarely occurs with typical cellphone use.
The highest exposure level in the studies was four times higher than the maximum power level permitted.
“A major strength of our studies is that we were able to control exactly how much radio frequency radiation the animals received — something that’s not possible when studying human cellphone use, which has often relied on questionnaires,” said Michael Wyde, lead toxicologist on the study.
The study began at a time when 2G and 3G networks were the norm — they are still used for calls and texting — and did not investigate the types of RFR used for Wi-Fi or 5G networks.
It adds heft to the hypothesis that there is a link between mobile phone use and cancer.
