A World Health Organization commissioned systematic review into the potential health effects from radio wave exposure finds no association between mobile phone use and head cancers.

The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency’s (ARPANSA) A/Prof Ken Karipidis, who led this review, says that it is the most comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the evidence to date. 

"When the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified radio wave exposure as a possible carcinogen to humans in 2013 it was largely based on limited evidence from human observational studies," A/Prof Karipidis said as quoted by ARPANSA website. 

"This systematic review of human observational studies is based on a much larger dataset compared to that examined by the IARC, that also includes more recent and more comprehensive studies, so we can be more confident that exposure to radio waves from wireless technology is not a human health hazard." 

The World Health Organization is currently preparing an Environmental Health Criterion Monograph on the health effects from radio wave exposure. 

That monograph will draw on this systematic review and others commissioned by the World Health Organization. 

"Health effects from wireless technology is one of the most researched health topics," A/Prof Karipidis said.

"Our review considered over 5,000 studies published between 1994 and 2022, of which 63 were included in the final analysis. 

"The findings of this systematic review align with previous research conducted by ARPANSA showing that, although the use of wireless technology has massively increased in the last 20 years, there has been no rise in the incidence of brain cancers." 

As the Australian Government’s primary radiation protection authority, ARPANSA will continue to undertake research and assess all the available scientific evidence that underpins its radio wave exposure standard and public health advice.