Systematic reviews and meta-analyses for the WHO assessment of health effects of exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields, an introduction

Authors: Verbeek J, Zeeb H, van Deventer E, Ijaz S, Doré J-F, Driessen S, Roth N, Whaley P

Year: 2025

Category: Environmental Health, Epidemiology

Journal: Environment International

DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2025.109751

URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412025005021

Abstract

Overview

This editorial introduces a special issue of Environment International focused on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) assessment of the health effects of exposure to radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic fields (EMF). The collection represents four years of collaborative scientific work involving more than 80 global experts, culminating in multiple systematic reviews and protocols that inform the WHO's health risk assessment for RF-EMF exposure.

Project Highlights

  • Includes nine protocols and twelve systematic reviews supporting human health risk assessment of RF-EMF exposure.
  • Describes commissioning, development processes, and methodologies for systematic reviews.
  • Summarizes key findings and discusses successes and challenges of this large-scale effort.

Findings

  • Evidence consistently evaluated for major health outcomes such as cancer, cognition, fertility, symptoms, and oxidative stress, with review sizes ranging from 5 to 215 included studies per outcome.
  • Systematic reviews in humans found moderate-certainty evidence of no or only small effect for major cancer types (glioma, lymphoma), except for lower certainty in thyroid and oral/pharyngeal cancers.
  • Animal studies showed high- to moderate-certainty evidence of effects on five cancer types and high-certainty evidence of adverse effects on male fertility.
  • Evidence for human effects on cognition and symptoms was of moderate- to very low-certainty, often limited by few studies or bias risks.
  • Oxidative stress findings were highly variable and certainty was very low, with methodological challenges noted.
  • While primarily thermal and nerve excitation mechanisms are recognized, editors emphasize the possibility of unidentified biophysical mechanisms that could also pose health risks from RF EMF exposure.

Conclusion

These systematically conducted reviews provide the most substantial basis to date for evaluating the effects of EMF exposure on health and are intended to guide the forthcoming WHO EHC Monograph on RF fields. Importantly, the differences in animal and human study results underscore ongoing methodological and interpretative challenges, highlighting the need for integration of this evidence in the global health context. The possibility of yet unknown mechanisms linking RF-EMF exposure to health risks is acknowledged, and continued vigilance and research are recommended.

radiofrequency electromagnetic fields EMF RF exposure health risks WHO systematic review cancer
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