There’s “clear evidence” that male rats exposed to high levels of radio frequency radiation used in mobile phones developed cancerous heart tumours, according to final reports released on Thursday by the US National Toxicology Program.
Results can’t be compared directly to exposure humans experience when using a mobile phone, in part because exposure levels were greater for the studied rodents, John Bucher, senior scientist with the National Toxicology Program, said in a news release.
The National Toxicology Program is an inter-agency programme headquartered at the National Institutes of Health.
Male rats were exposed to high levels of radio frequency radiation like that used in 2G and 3G cell services — technology that hasn’t been completely replaced as the industry moves to 4G and beyond, according to the study on rats and radiation.
Studies didn’t investigate radiation used for Wi-Fi or 5G networks. Changes from draft report in February include higher level of confidence for conclusion about tumours in male rat hearts, to “clear evidence” from “some evidence”, Bucher said. — Reported by Todd Shields, (c) 2018 Bloomberg LP