Experts challenge WHO research
February 08,2025
Top scientists have challenged the results of a World Health Organisation review and meta-analysis on mobile phone radiation and cancer.
The International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields (ICBE-EMF) says that the review/meta-analysis is ‘scientifically flawed and does not provide a reliable assessment of the evidence on brain cancer risk associated with the use of cell phones and other wireless technologies.’
The study the Commission is referring to is the one led by Australian scientist, Dr Ken Karipidis from the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) and published last year to widespread media claims that mobile phone radiation is safe.
That’s far from the truth, according to ICBE-EMF scientist Dr Joel Moskowitz. ‘It is dishonest to assure the public that cell phones and wireless radiation are safe based upon such a flawed review,’ he said.
Writing in the journal Environmental International in January 2025, the ICBE-EMF says that the Karipidis paper ‘does not provide a scientifically valid assessment of the evidence on the risk of these tumors associated with use of mobile phones or other wireless devices, due to critical methodological flaws.’ The authors point out five key weaknesses of the study.
- It based conclusions on studies with flawed designs.
- It relied on categories of exposure that did not reflect the extent of exposure.
- It mischaracterised evidence on brain cancer time trends.
- It understated uncertainty about cancer risks for long latency since exposure.
- It failed to follow widely used scientific guidance for conducting systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
Additionally, the ICBE-EMF points out a concerning reason for bias. The authors say, ‘[a]lthough Karipidis and his co-authors declared no competing interests, it should be noted that some of them had linkages to the telecommunications industry’.
The authors advise precaution to reduce exposure from wireless radiation. They say, ICBE-EMF continues to strongly recommend reducing public exposure to RFR from cell phones, cellular antennas and other wireless sources such as Wi-Fi. These recommendations are especially important during pregnancy and childhood, and for individuals who are medically vulnerable or electromagnetically sensitive.
References and resources
-
John W. Frank, Joel M. Moskowitz, Ronald L. Melnick, Lennart Hardell, Alasdair Philips, Paul Héroux, Elizabeth Kelley, The Systematic Review on RF-EMF Exposure and Cancer by Karipidis et al. (2024) has Serious Flaws that Undermine the Validity of the Study’s Conclusions, Environment International, Volume 195, 2025, 109200, ISSN 0160-4120, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envi...
-
EMR Australia’s blog ‘WHO’s new study results questioned’,
-
ICBE-EMF media release, New Publication: WHO’s Cell Phone Radiation Cancer Study is “Seriously Flawed”, 15.1.25,
-
ICBE-EMF Fact sheet, Scientific Flaws in the Karipidis et al. (2024) Systematic Review on Human Observational Studies of Radiofrequency Radiation and Cancer Risk,
-
Talk by Dr John Frank on behalf of ICBE-EMF, Flawed WHO Cell Phone RF Radiation Cancer Study by The Karipidis et al.
Reduce exposure to mobile phone radiation
Protect yourself from mobile phone radiation with our airtube headsets. They contain NO wires
that can conduct radiation into the head.
You can see more here.
What else can you do?