Topic: Wireless safety, public health, media accuracy
On September 24, 2025, Dr. Joel Moskowitz (UC Berkeley) submitted a letter on behalf of the International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields (ICBE-EMF) urging Prevention magazine to revise its September 18 article, “Do Cell Phones Cause Cancer? Experts Explain the Latest Science.” The ICBE-EMF contends the story overstates certainty and omits key evidence, potentially misleading readers about risk. icbe-emf.org+1
The letter points to peer-reviewed critiques of the WHO-commissioned human cancer review by Karipidis et al. (2024), arguing that methodological flaws undermine assurances of safety. ICBE-EMF cites John W. Frank and colleagues’ Letter to the Editor in Environment International, which details these issues and calls the WHO review’s conclusions unreliable for risk assessment. PubMed+1
ICBE-EMF also highlights evidence consistent with elevated risk among heavier users. Meta-analyses have reported increased tumor risk at ~800–1,000+ hours of lifetime call time (about 17 minutes/day over 10 years), and classic case-control work—including INTERPHONE analyses and studies by Hardell et al.—has reported signals at the highest exposure strata that warrant precaution, further study, and balanced coverage. PubMed+4PMC+4BioMed Central+4
The letter notes concerning incidence patterns that deserve mention in consumer health reporting. For example, non-malignant meningioma incidence in the U.S. rose substantially from 2004–2022 (SEER/CBTRUS data), and some countries have documented marked increases in glioblastoma over multi-decade periods. SEER+2saferemr.com+2
Finally, the animal evidence base has strengthened. A WHO-funded systematic review (Mevissen et al., 2025) found high-certainty evidence that RF exposure can induce cancers in experimental animals—tumor types overlapping with those seen in some human studies—while the U.S. National Toxicology Program previously reported “clear evidence” of tumors in high-exposure conditions. ICBE-EMF argues this totality merits a more balanced takeaway than “no risk.” PubMed+1
Why this matters
Consumer health outlets shape public behavior. The ICBE-EMF letter doesn’t claim certainty of human harm from normal phone use; it asks Prevention to reflect the scientific debate, the signals at high exposures, and the converging animal evidence—so readers can make informed, precautionary choices while research and standards evolve. PubMed
Read the source materials
-
ICBE-EMF news item: “Letter to Prevention Magazine on Cell Phone Cancer Article.” icbe-emf.org
-
Prevention article (Sept 18, 2025): “Do Cell Phones Cause Cancer? Experts Explain the Latest Science.”
