The Health Impacts of Wireless Radiation to Children: Cyprus Pediatric Symposium- Devra Davis PhD

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The Environmental Working Group published study in Environmental Health analyzing the findings of tumor and heart damage from the National Toxicology Program study and concluded that FCC limits should be strengthened by 200 to 400 times to protect children according to current risk assessment guidelines (Uche 2021). 

European Parliament requested a research report  “Health Impact of 5G” released in July 2021 concluding that commonly used RFR frequencies (450 to 6000 MHz) are probably carcinogenic for humans and clearly affect male fertility with possible adverse effects on the development of embryos, fetuses and newborns. 

Scientists of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences National Toxicology Program published a study finding “significant increases in DNA damage” in groups of male mice, female mice  and male rats after just 14 to 19 weeks of exposure to RFR (Smith-Roe et al., 2020).

Examples of recent studies on wireless and health:

Yale researchers published a study supported by the American Cancer Society linking thyroid cancer to cell phone use in people with a type of common genetic variation (Luo et al., 2020). 

A meta analysis of 300 peer-reviewed scientific publications (1990-2015) describing 1127 experimental observations in cell-based in vitro models on RFR published in Environmental Research found less differentiated cells such as epithelium and spermatozoa are more sensitive to RF (Halgamuge et al., 2020).

A review on real world exposure to 5G published in Toxicology Letters found that 5 G will have systematic effects as well as adverse effects to the skin and eyes (Kostoff et al., 2020). 

A systematic review and meta-analysis of case-control studies found evidence that linked cellular phone use to increased tumor risk (Choi et al., 2020). 

A 4G study found kidney inflammation and damage to the testes in mice (Hasan  et al., 2021). 

The Switzerland Institute of the Environment expert published review found increased oxidative stress in the majority of the animal studies and in more than half of the cell studies with exposures within the range of the regulatory limits (Schuermann et al., 2021)

Numerous reviews have found exposure associated with harmful impacts to male reproductive systems (Sungjoon et al, 2021, Yu et al., 2021, Gang et al., 2021, Negi et al., 2021, Okechukwu 2020, Jaffar et al., 2019, Kesari et al., 2018, Yahyazadeh et al., 2018, Altun et al., 2018, Sepehrimanesh and Davis 2017, Houston et al., 2016 ).

A review on impacts to the thyroid found RFR “might be associated with thyroid gland insufficiency and alterations in serum thyroid hormone levels, with a possible disruption in the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis.” (Alkayyali et al.,  2021)

2400 MHz effected the structural integrity of the hippocampus in mice (Hasan  et al., 2021). 

A systematic review on the effects of RFR to male reproductive hormones found that wireless can decrease testosterone reduction (Maluin  et al, 2021). 

A  review on the genetic effects of non-ionizing electromagnetic fields found DNA strand breaks, micronucleus formation, and chromosomal structural changes (Lai 2021). 

A systematic review published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences found that neuronal ion channels are particularly affected (Bertagna et al  2021).

A review published in the International Journal of Oncology described how EMFs lead to dysfunction of ion channels which lead to reactive oxygen species/free radical overproduction providing “ a complete picture” of “how human‑made EMF exposure may indeed lead to DNA damage and related pathologies, including cancer,” (Panagopoulos et al. 2021). 

References

Alkayyali T et al.,(2021)  An Exploration of the Effects of Radiofrequency Radiation Emitted by Mobile Phones and Extremely Low Frequency Radiation on Thyroid Hormones and Thyroid Gland Histopathology. Cureus. Aug 20;13(8) 

Bertagna et al (2021) Effects of electromagnetic fields on neuronal ion channels: a systematic review. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 2021 Sep;1499(1):82-103

Choi Yoon-Jung , Joel M. Moskowitz, Seung-Kwon Myung, Yi-Ryoung Lee, Yun-Chul Hong. (2020) Cellular Phone Use and Risk of Tumors: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.  17(21), 8079 

Halgamuge MN, Skafidas E, Davis D. (2020) A meta-analysis of in vitro exposures to weak radiofrequency radiation exposure from mobile phones (1990–2015). Environmental Research, Volume 184 

Hasan et al., (2021) Hematobiochemical and histopathological alterations of kidney and testis due to exposure of 4G cell phone radiation in mice. Saudi J Biol Sci.   May;28(5):2933-2942 

Hasan et al., (2021) Effect of 2400 MHz mobile phone radiation exposure on the behavior and hippocampus morphology in Swiss mouse model, Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences, August

Kostoff, R., Heroux, P., Aschner, M., & Tsatsakis, A. (2020). Adverse health effects of 5G mobile networking technology under real-life conditions. Toxicology Letters, 323, 35-40 

Lai H. (2021) Genetic effects of non-ionizing electromagnetic fields. Electromagn Biol Med. 2021 Apr 3;40(2):264-273 

Luo, J., et al.(2020)  Genetic susceptibility may modify the association between cell phone use and thyroid cancer: A population-based case-control study in Connecticut, Environmental Research, Volume 182 

Maluin SM et al., (2021) Effect of Radiation Emitted by Wireless Devices on Male Reproductive Hormones: A Systematic Review. Front Physiol.  Sep 24;12:732420 

Panagopoulos, D.J., Karabarbounis, A., Yakymenko, I., & Chrousos, G.P. (2021). Human‑made electromagnetic fields: Ion forced‑oscillation and voltage‑gated ion channel dysfunction, oxidative stress and DNA damage (Review). International Journal of Oncology, 59, 92. 

Schuermann, David, and Meike Mevissen  (2021) “Manmade Electromagnetic Fields and Oxidative Stress—Biological Effects and Consequences for Health” International Journal of Molecular Sciences 22, no. 7: 3772. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms22073772

Smith-Roe, SL., et al. (2020) “Evaluation of the genotoxicity of cell phone radiofrequency radiation in male and female rats and mice following subchronic exposure.” Environmental and molecular mutagenesis, Feb;61(2):276-290   

Sungjoon Kim, Donghyun Han, Jiwoo Ryu, Kihun Kim, Yun Hak Kim. (2021) Effects of mobile phone usage on sperm quality – No time-dependent relationship on usage: A systematic review and updated meta-analysis. Environ Res. 2021 Jul 29;111784.  

Uche, U.I., Naidenko, O.V. (2021) “Development of health-based exposure limits for radiofrequency radiation from wireless devices using a benchmark dose approach.” Environmental Health 20, 84 (2021) 

Yu G et al (2021) Current progress on the effect of mobile phone radiation on sperm quality: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis of human and animal studies. Environ Pollut.  Aug 1;282:116952.