A 75-page systematic review commissioned by the World Health Organization’s EMF Project and published April 25 in Environment International concludes that radio-frequency (RF) radiation “increases the incidence of cancer in experimental animals,” with the strongest certainty for malignant heart schwannomas and brain gliomas. Microwave News
This overturns three decades of assurances from:
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ICNIRP (the private group whose thermal-only limits are embedded in most national standards)
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Multiple national health agencies that have leaned on ICNIRP to dismiss non-thermal risks.
🔥 Why This Review Matters
| What’s new? | Why it’s a game-changer |
|---|---|
| Scope & Transparency – 14-month, WHO-mandated peer-review; protocol pre-registered in 2022 | Closes the “methodology” loophole critics used to dismiss earlier NTP & Ramazzini animal cancer findings |
| Co-chairs with gravitas – Kurt Straif (ex-head, IARC Monographs) & Meike Mevissen (Uni Bern) | Same calibre of leadership that put asbestos and diesel exhaust in IARC Group 1 |
| Concordance with human data – Tumor types (schwannoma, glioma) mirror excesses seen in heavy mobile-phone users | Bolsters argument for upgrading RF to at least Probable or Known human carcinogen |
📣 ICBE-EMF Responds
“The evidence is now clear — cell-phone radiation can cause cancer in animals in concordance with the tumor types identified in human studies … The core ICNIRP assumption that only heating matters is wrong.”
— Ron Melnick, PhD, Chair, ICBE-EMF, April 28 2025 statement
🧩 How This Fits Our Larger Narrative
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Signals match pathology. The very tumors highlighted in the WHO review are the ones first flagged in the $30 million U.S. NTP study (2018) and the Ramazzini rat study (2018).
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Regulatory fault-line exposed. With ICNIRP out of step with the WHO-commissioned science, governments can no longer hide behind the “consensus” shield.
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Public-health stakes. Nearly 7 billion people now carry RF emitters against their bodies. Animal data are predictive for humans; ignoring them courts a global cancer wave.
🛠 Action Points You Can Share Today
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Demand science-based exposure limits. Call on your health ministry or FCC equivalent to freeze 5G/6G roll-outs until standards incorporate non-thermal endpoints.
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Educate your circle. Post the WHO review link and Melnick’s statement; counter “only heating harms” myths.
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Adopt safer tech habits. Use speaker/a-tube headsets, keep phones off-body, hard-wire home Internet, deploy Li-Fi indoors.
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Support independent research. Push for restoration of NTP funding and repeal of Section 704 so communities can challenge unsafe tower siting.