“Clear Evidence that Radiofrequency Radiation is a Multi‑site Carcinogen”
Hardell and Carlberg Publish Commentary on the National Toxicology Program Final Reports on Radiofrequency Cell Phone Radiation Study
Hardell and Carlberg have published their expert commentary on the US National Toxicology Program study on rats and mice. They conclude in their paper “that there is clear evidence that RF radiation is a human carcinogen, causing glioma and vestibular schwannoma (acoustic neuroma).” The paper additionally considers other cancer endpoints. For example, in regards to the rising increase in incidence of thyroid cancer, the authors state that “there is some evidence that thyroid cancer is caused by RF radiation in humans. The authors conclude that there is “clear evidence that RF radiation is a multi‑site carcinogen. Based on the Preamble to the IARC Monographs, RF radiation should be classified as carcinogenic to humans, Group 1.”
“Our conclusion on RF radiation carcinogenicity is the following based on human epidemiology and supported by animal results in the NTP reports: Glioma, clear evidence; meningioma, equivocal evidence; vestibular schwannoma (acoustic neuroma), clear evidence; pituitary tumor (adenoma), equivocal evidence; thyroid cancer, some evidence; malignant lymphoma, equivocal evidence; skin (cutaneous tissue), equivocal evidence; multi‑site carcinogen, clear evidence.”
“In this paper, Hardell and Carlberg reach the same conclusion as Miller et al 2018 that there is now sufficient evidence for the International Agency for Research on Cancer to categorize radiofrequency radiation as a Group 1 human carcinogen. Sweden was one of the first countries to introduce mobile phones, and the case-control studies performed by Hardell and his colleagues have produced much of the human evidence necessary to reach such a conclusion,” stated Anthony Miller MD pointing to several published research studies and reviews by Hardell and Carlberg, which includes a higher risk for glioma if first use of mobile or cordless phone was before the age of 20.
In 2013, Hardell and Carlberg published the conclusion that RF radiation should be regarded as a human carcinogen, Group 1 according to the IARC definition as the scientific evidence fulfilled Bradford Hill causality criteria. Subsequent publications have added more documentation supporting their conclusions.
Cancer is one of the many health effects associated with exposure to radiofrequency radiation in published research studies. “With respect to health implications of digital (wireless) technologies, it is of importance that neurological diseases, physiological addiction, cognition, sleep, and behavioral problems are considered in addition to cancer. Well-being needs to be carefully evaluated as an effect of changed behavior in children and adolescents through their interactions with modern digital technologies, stated Hardell in “Effects of Mobile Phones on Children’s and Adolescents’ Health: A Commentary.”
Hardell L, Carlberg M.,Comments on the US National Toxicology Program technical reports on toxicology and carcinogenesis study in rats exposed to whole-body radiofrequency radiation at 900 MHz and in mice exposed to whole-body radiofrequency radiation at 1,900 MHz.,Int J Oncol. 2018 Oct 24.
Abstract: During the use of handheld mobile and cordless phones, the brain is the main target of radiofrequency (RF) radiation. An increased risk of developing glioma and acoustic neuroma has been found in human epidemiological studies. Primarily based on these findings, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) at the World Health Organization (WHO) classified in May, 2011 RF radiation at the frequency range of 30 kHz‑300 GHz as a ‘possible’ human carcinogen, Group 2B. A carcinogenic potential for RF radiation in animal studies was already published in 1982. This has been confirmed over the years, more recently in the Ramazzini Institute rat study. An increased incidence of glioma in the brain and malignant schwannoma in the heart was found in the US National Toxicology Program (NTP) study on rats and mice. The NTP final report is to be published; however, the extended reports are published on the internet for evaluation and are reviewed herein in more detail in relation to human epidemiological studies. Thus, the main aim of this study was to compare earlier human epidemiological studies with NTP findings, including a short review of animal studies. We conclude that there is clear evidence that RF radiation is a human carcinogen, causing glioma and vestibular schwannoma (acoustic neuroma). There is some evidence of an increased risk of developing thyroid cancer, and clear evidence that RF radiation is a multi‑site carcinogen. Based on the Preamble to the IARC Monographs, RF radiation should be classified as carcinogenic to humans, Group 1.
A Sampling of Published Scientific Evidence Associating Cell Phone Radiofrequency to Cancer and Other Health Effects
REVIEWS
Carlberg M, Hardell L., Evaluation of Mobile Phone and Cordless Phone Use and Glioma Risk Using the Bradford Hill Viewpoints from 1965 on Association or Causation. Biomed Res Int. 2017;2017:9218486. doi: 10.1155/2017/9218486. Epub
Miller AB, Morgan LL, Udasin I, Davis DL. Cancer Epidemiology Update, following the 2011 IARC Evaluation of Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields (Monograph 102). Environmental Research 2018; 167:673-83.
Bortkiewicz, A., E. Gadzicka, and W. Szymczak. Mobile Phone Use and Risk for Intracranial Tumors and Salivary Gland Tumors – A Meta-Analysis. International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health, vol. 30, no. 1, 2017, pp. 27–43.
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IARC Monographs on the evaluation of carcinogenic risks to humans. Non-ionizing radiation, Part 2: Radiofrequency Electromagnetic fields. Lyon: International Agency for Research on Cancer, vol. 102, 2013.
Belyaev, I. Dependence of non–thermal biological effects of microwaves on physical and biological variables: implications for reproducibility and safety standards. In L. Giuliani, M. Soffritti (Eds.), European J. Oncol.—Library Non–Thermal Effects and Mechanisms of Interaction between Electromagnetic Fields and Living Matter, 5, Ramazzini Institute, Bologna, Italy, 2010, pp. 187–218 (An ICEMS Monograph).
Kostoff, Ronald N., and Clifford GY Lau. “Combined biological and health effects of electromagnetic fields and other agents in the published literature.” Technological Forecasting and Social Change vol. 80, no. 7, 2013, no. 1331-49.
Hardell L., World Health Organization, radiofrequency radiation and health – a hard nut to crack (Review). Int J Oncol. 2017 Aug;51(2):405-413.
ANIMAL
Falcioni et al, Report of final results regarding brain and heart tumors in Sprague-dawley rats exposed from prenatal life until natural death to mobile phone radiofrequency field representative of a 1.8 ghz gsm base station environmental emission. Environmental Research, 2018.
National Toxicology Program (2018). NTP Technical Report on the Toxicology and Carcinogenesis Studies in Hsd:Sprague Dawley SD Rats Exposed to Whole-Body Radio Frequency Radiation at a Frequency (900 MHz) and Modulations (GSM and CDMA) Used by Cell Phones. NTP TR 595.
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HUMAN
Cardis, E., et al. Risk of brain tumours in relation to estimated RF dose from mobile phones: results from five Interphone countries. Occup. Environ. Med., vol. 68, no. 9, 2011, pp. 631-40.
Carlberg, M., Hardell, L. On the association between glioma, wireless phones, heredity and ionising radiation. Pathophysiology, vol. 19, no. 4, 2012, pp. 243-52.
Carlberg, M., Hardell, L. Use of mobile and cordless phones and survival of patients with glioma. Neuroepidemiology, vol. 40, no. 2, 2013, pp. 101-8.
Coureau, G., et al. Mobile phone use and brain tumours in the CERENAT case-control study. Occup. Environ. Med, vol. 71, no. 7, 2014, pp. 514-22.
Grell, K., et al. The Intracranial Distribution of Gliomas in Relation to Exposure from Mobile Phones: Analyses from the INTERPHONE Study. Am. J. Epidemiol, vol. 184, no. 11, 2016, pp. 818-28.
Hardell, L. and M. Carlberg. Mobile phone and cordless phone use and the risk for glioma – Analysis of pooled case-control studies in Sweden, 1997-2003 and 2007-2009. Pathophysiology, vol. 22, no. 1, 2015, pp. 1-13.
Hardell, L., M. Carlberg and Kjell H. Mild. Use of cellular telephones and brain tumour risk in urban and rural areas. Occup. Environ. Med., vol. 62, no. 6, 2005, pp. 390-4.
Hardell, L., M. Carlberg, F. Söderqvist and Kjell H. Mild. Pooled analysis of case-control studies on acoustic neuroma diagnosed 1997-2003 and 2007-2009 and use of mobile and cordless phones. Int. J. Oncol., vol. 43, no. 4, 2013a, pp. 1036-44.
Hardell, L., M. Carlberg, F. Söderqvist and Kjell H. Mild. Case-control study of the association between malignant brain tumours diagnosed between 2007 and 2009 and mobile and cordless phone use. Int. J. Oncol. 43(6), 2013b, pp. 1833-1845.
Carlberg, Michael and Lennart Hardell. “Decreased survival of glioma patients with astrocytoma grade IV (glioblastoma multiforme) associated with long-term use of mobile and cordless phones.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 11, no. 10, 2014, pp. 10790-805.
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Momoli, F., et al. Probabilistic Multiple-Bias Modeling Applied to the Canadian Data From the Interphone Study of Mobile Phone Use and Risk of Glioma, Meningioma, Acoustic Neuroma, and Parotid Gland Tumors. Am. J. Epidemiol. 2017; 186: 885–893. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwx157
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MECHANISMS
Yakymenko, Igor, et al. “Oxidative mechanisms of biological activity of low-intensity radiofrequency radiation.” Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine 35.2 (2016): 186-202.
Barnes, Frank, and Ben Greenebaum. “Some Effects of Weak Magnetic Fields on Biological Systems: RF fields can change radical concentrations and cancer cell growth rates.” IEEE Power Electronics Magazine, vol. 3, no. 1, 2016, pp. 60-8.
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Hinrikus, Hiie, et al. “Mechanism of low-level microwave radiation effect on nervous system.” Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine, 2016.
Pall, Martin L. “Microwave frequency electromagnetic fields (EMFs) produce widespread neuropsychiatric effects including depression.” Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy, vol. 75, no. B, 2016, pp. 43-51.
Yakymenko, Igor, et al. “Oxidative mechanisms of biological activity of low-intensity radiofrequency radiation.” Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine, vol. 35, no. 2, 2016.
Pall, Martin L. “EMFs act via activation of voltage-gated calcium channels to produce beneficial or adverse effects.” Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, vol. 17, no. 8, 2013, pp. 958-65.
Markovà, Eva, Lars OG Malmgren, and Igor Y. Belyaev. “Microwaves from mobile phones inhibit 53BP1 focus formation in human stem cells more strongly than in differentiated cells: possible mechanistic link to cancer risk.” Environ Health Perspect, vol. 118, no. 3, 2010, pp. 394-9.
Yakymenko, Igor, et al. “Oxidative mechanisms of biological activity of low-intensity radiofrequency radiation.” Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine, vol. 35, no. 2, 2016
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Neurodevelopment and Neurological
Kim, Ju Hwan, et al. “Long-term exposure to 835 MHz RF-EMF induces hyperactivity, autophagy and demyelination in the cortical neurons of mice.” Scientific Reports, vol 7, no. 41129, 2017.
Deshmukh, Pravin Suryakantrao, et al. “Cognitive impairment and neurogenotoxic effects in rats exposed to low-intensity microwave radiation.” International Journal of Toxicology, vol. 34, no. 3, 2015, pp. 284-90.
Tang, Jun, et al. “Exposure to 900MHz electromagnetic fields activates the mkp-1/ERK pathway and causes blood-brain barrier damage and cognitive impairment in rats.” Brain Research, no. 1601, 2015, pp. 92-101.
Byun, Yoon-Hwan, et al. “Mobile Phone Use, Blood Lead Levels, and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Symptoms in Children: A Longitudinal Study. PLoS ONE, vol. 8, no. 3, 2013.
Aldad, Tamir S., et al. “Fetal radiofrequency radiation exposure from 800-1900 Mhz-rated cellular telephones affects neurodevelopment and behavior in mice.” Scientific Reports, vol. 2, no. 312, 2012.
Divan, Hozefa A., et al. “Cell phone use and behavioural problems in young children.” Journal of Epidemiology and Public Health, vol 66, no. 6, 2012, pp. 524-9.
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Sonmez, O.F., et al. “Purkinje cell number decreases in the adult female rat cerebellum following exposure to 900 MHz electromagnetic field.” Brain Research, no. 1356, 2010, pp. 95-101.
Bas, O., et al. “Chronic prenatal exposure to the 900 megahertz electromagnetic field induces pyramidal cell loss in the hippocampus of newborn rats.” Toxicology and Industrial Health, vol. 25, no. 6, 2009, pp. 377-84.
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