Our modern technology has brought us many useful innovations. It has also exposed humans to man-made sources of electromagnetic fields (EMF) that have an impact on the natural electromagnetic environment. This exposure to man-made EMF occurs both at work and home.
The most common EMF exposure includes radiofrequency (RF) EMF, i.e. radio waves and microwaves (100 kHz–300 GHz), and power frequency EMF (50, 60 Hz). This comes from a plethora of RF-emitting devices used in industry (welding machines, induction heaters), telecommunication (TV and radio broadcast stations), medicine (NMR, diathermy), and in everyday life (microwave ovens, mobile phones, and 5G—the newest generation of mobile communication).
Scientists are raising concerns about this increasing exposure to RF EMF. It may negatively affect everyone from mobile phone users and people living near base stations to employees of governmental agencies and NGOs involved in public health.
While EMF exposure from mobile phones falls within stated safety standards, these standards were developed using the expected thermal effects of EMF only. They do not take into account the possible non-thermal effects. Numerous studies are currently investigating the potential health effects of weak “non-thermal” radiofrequency electromagnetic fields.
The existing evidence on potential health effects of EMF exposure comes from epidemiologic studies. These studies looked primarily at EMF exposure-related risk of developing certain cancers, especially any link between mobile phone use and intracranial cancer.
These older studies did not produce definitive evidence linking the higher risk of cancer in relation to exposure to micro- and radiofrequency EMFs. Still, this research was retrospective, which made it difficult to assess exposure levels or control for certain factors. In addition, carcinogenesis is a very slow process while mobile devices didn’t become common until very recently. However, already at the beginning of the 21st century, some researchers reported positive results.
In 2011, the International Agency of Research on Cancer (IARC) classified RF EMFs as possibly carcinogenic to humans. In 2015, the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) published a report on the effects of exposure to EMF on frequencies in ranges already used in mobile phones.
According to this report, epidemiological studies on mobile phone RF EMF exposure do not show a higher risk of brain tumors or cancers of the head and neck. Some studies do raise concerns about a higher risk of acoustic neuroma and glioma in heavy users of mobile phones.
More current data suggest that long-term use of mobile phones (more than 10 years) increases the risk of intracranial tumors. As a result, the IARC advisory committee recommended a reassessment of cancer risk in relation to RF radiation. The committee also suggested making the reassessment a high priority and upgrading RF to a “probable cancer agent.”
In addition to being a possible carcinogenic, RF EMF may also cause other health issues. However, the evidence from studies is limited. The studies that do exist looked at headaches, fatigue, general malaise, muscle pain, nausea, sleep disturbances, and short-term memory loss. Questionnaire studies took place in Sweden, Norway, England, the USA, New Zealand, Australia, and Poland.
The general consensus is that base stations must also be studied in addition to hand-held devices. Developing a hypothesis on the potential adverse effects of base stations is hampered by a high amount of uncertainty. Exposure from base stations is from low EMF intensities over lengthy time periods. Precise assessment is difficult. Better methodological observational studies are necessary to evaluate the long-term exposure to base station emissions and the relation to subjective symptoms.
In 2017, the results of a large cohort study conducted in a Dutch population of 14,829 people aged 31–65 were published. The researchers found a relationship between the overall number of reported subjective complaints and the perception of exposure. The researchers stated that “there is a need for more multidisciplinary studies that consider the role of both actual environmental exposures and perception in relation to self-reported health outcomes”.
Final thoughts
More research is needed to determine the health effects of RF EMF. However, previous research points to using caution when planning and installing new sources of electromagnetic emissions.