The US National Toxicology Program (NTP) published the final draft of the study investigating the association between radiofrequency (RF) radiation exposure and cancer in rats and mice
At the beginning of November 2018 the final report of a comprehensive study conducted by the US National Toxicology Program (NTP), to evaluate the association between exposure to radiofrequency (RF) radiation and cancer in rats and mice was published. The study lasted more than 10 years, with a cost of 30 million dollars and its final conclusions were reviewed by external experts.
In this study, the animals were exposed to RF radiation with GSM and CDMA technologies (which are commonly used for cellular communication in the US) with different exposure levels.
The final report found clear evidence that male rats exposed to high levels of RF radiation, like those used by second and third generation (G2 or G3) cellular phones, developed malignant heart tumors (schwannomas). In addition, some evidence of brain tumors and adrenal tumors in exposed male rats was found.
For female rats, and male and female mice, it was equivocal (unclear) whether cancers observed in the studies were associated with exposure to RF radiation.
In the press release published by the NTP, a senior NTP researcher noted that the exposures used in their studies cannot be directly compared to human exposure to cellphone use. In the NTP studies the entire bodies of the mice and rats were exposed to RF radiation. In contrast, when using a cell phone, people are mainly exposed in certain tissues that are close to the place where they are holding the phone. In addition, exposure levels and exposure duration in these studies were much greater than what humans experience when using cell phones. The lowest level of exposure used in the studies is equal to the maximal tissue exposure levels for cell phone users; this level of intensity is almost non-existent in typical cell phone use. The highest exposure level in the studies was 4 times greater than the maximal permissible level.
An unexpected finding was also noted, that life expectancy was longer for male rates exposed to radiation than for rats who were not exposed at all (control group).
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reacted to this publication by stating that they disagree with the conclusions of the final report regarding clear evidence of carcinogenicity in rats exposed to RF radiation. In their statement regarding the final report, it was stated that the findings of the study cannot be implemented regarding use of cell phones by humans. It was further noted that the study was not designed to evaluate the safety of cell phone use by humans and therefore conclusions cannot be drawn regarding hazards of cell phone use.
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