Health effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic energy.

ABSTRACT

The issues of real or suspected health effects of radiofrequency fields, produced by cellphones, their base stations and many other devices, are complex and controversial. We believe that the most balanced and valid assessments of these issues are given by the extensive reports produced by reputable, multidisciplinary, expert groups. These use the principles of a comprehensive review to assess all available published literature and form their conclusions by consideration of the strength of the evidence from the available studies. This paper provides links to several of these reports, and shows how others can be accessed. These reports are large and complex, but freely available on websites. We summarise the most recent New Zealand report, which itself refers to and summarises many other reports. The scientific literature on these issues is enormous, particularly in animal and laboratory studies. There are some comprehensive reviews of these, demonstrating that the quality of the studies is very variable, and that, for example, results claiming to show increased genetic damage or other biological effects are much more common in studies of low quality, whereas higher-quality studies predominantly show no significant effects. Thus, while there are many reports which in isolation suggest health effects, there is no consistent evidence supporting important health effects caused by low intensities of radiofrequencies similar to those experienced by the general population. There are certainly many unanswered questions, and new studies need to be assessed carefully and replicated where possible. Thus, expert groups in several countries including New Zealand need to continue to regularly review new studies.