Link Between Cellphone Radiation And Cancer In Rats Found

Low levels of radiation from cellphones led to brain tumor growth in rats that got exposed for long periods, according to a new study released by the National Toxicology Program.

Although it has yet to be peer-reviewed, the link indicates that cell phone radiation is carcinogenic. Even though the exact nature of the link has not been finalized, the information has found only higher rates of cancer in male rates. The amount of radiation exposure needed to be carcinogenic could be higher in humans.

"This is by far - far and away - the most carefully done cell phone bioassay, a biological assessment," said Christopher Portier, the retired head of the National Toxicology Program who launched the study. "This is a classic study that is done for trying to understand cancers in humans. There will have to be a lot of work after this to assess if it causes problems in humans, but the fact that you can do it in rats will be a big issue. It actually has me concerned, and I'm an expert."

Scientists exposed more than 2,500 rats to cell phone radiation for nine hours each day for almost two years. The results showed that between two to three percent of the male rats exposed to the radiation got glioma tumors in their brains, while between six to seven percent developed schwannoma tumors in their hearts. Female rats, as well as others exposed to radiation showed "normal levels of cancer." Both types of tumors found in the study were linked to cell phone use.

But even though the findings are promising, the National Institutes of Health is examining how it was conducted and is comparing it to previous studies.

"This study in mice and rats is under review by additional experts," they said. "It is important to note that previous human, observational data collected in earlier, large-scale population-based studies have found limited evidence of an increased risk of developing cancer from cell phone use."

The findings were published in the May 26, 2016, issue of the pre-print server bioRXiv.