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Evidence Based Science Web Sites
The major public health organizations of more than 30 of world's leading industrialized countries do regular expert reviews of the scientific literature on the issue of EMF & health. Virtually every one of these expert reviews has come to the same conclusion as the World Health Organization "that current evidence does not confirm the existence of any health consequences from exposure to low level electromagnetic fields".
To the layman, the scientific literature on EMF & health is often confusing. Alarmists like to promote poorly conducted studies with "positive" results. These have invariably turned out to be false positives. That is why the assessment of expert groups is so important. They evaluate all studies and use a "weight of evidence" approach. The World Health Organization has published a set of guidelines for the assessment of the health risks of EMF: "All studies, with either positive or negative effects, need to be evaluated and judged on their own merit, and then all together in a weight-of-evidence approach. It is important to determine how much a set of evidence changes the probability that exposure causes an outcome. Generally, studies must be replicated or be in agreement with similar studies. The evidence for an effect is further strengthened if the results from different types of studies (epidemiology or laboratory) point to the same conclusion". Expert groups consult comprehensive databases of studies on EMF & health such as the one maintained by the IEEE to conduct their assessments.
The following is a list of expert reviews and web sites that are operated by credible mainstream scientists and public health officials. Their findings are based on evidence based science published in reputable peer reviewed journals. The list includes a brief description of the materials that are available at each site. All of these mainstream scientific organizations arrive at the same conclusion as the European SCENIHR: "It is concluded from three independent lines of evidence (epidemiological, animal and in vitro studies) that exposure to RF fields is unlikely to lead to an increase in cancer in humans".
The major public health organizations of more than 30 of world's leading industrialized countries do regular expert reviews of the scientific literature on the issue of EMF & health. Virtually every one of these expert reviews has come to the same conclusion as the World Health Organization "that current evidence does not confirm the existence of any health consequences from exposure to low level electromagnetic fields".
To the layman, the scientific literature on EMF & health is often confusing. Alarmists like to promote poorly conducted studies with "positive" results. These have invariably turned out to be false positives. That is why the assessment of expert groups is so important. They evaluate all studies and use a "weight of evidence" approach. The World Health Organization has published a set of guidelines for the assessment of the health risks of EMF: "All studies, with either positive or negative effects, need to be evaluated and judged on their own merit, and then all together in a weight-of-evidence approach. It is important to determine how much a set of evidence changes the probability that exposure causes an outcome. Generally, studies must be replicated or be in agreement with similar studies. The evidence for an effect is further strengthened if the results from different types of studies (epidemiology or laboratory) point to the same conclusion". Expert groups consult comprehensive databases of studies on EMF & health such as the one maintained by the IEEE to conduct their assessments.
The following is a list of expert reviews and web sites that are operated by credible mainstream scientists and public health officials. Their findings are based on evidence based science published in reputable peer reviewed journals. The list includes a brief description of the materials that are available at each site. All of these mainstream scientific organizations arrive at the same conclusion as the European SCENIHR: "It is concluded from three independent lines of evidence (epidemiological, animal and in vitro studies) that exposure to RF fields is unlikely to lead to an increase in cancer in humans".
Recent Updates
The following section is an update on recent expert reviews of the scientific literature on EMF & health. The public health organizations of most countries of the industrialized world conduct regular expert reviews of the scientific literature. Virtually every one of these expert reviews has come to the same conclusion as the World Health Organization "that current evidence does not confirm the existence of any health consequences from exposure to low level electromagnetic fields". The following is a summary of such reviews released in the past year.
The following section is an update on recent expert reviews of the scientific literature on EMF & health. The public health organizations of most countries of the industrialized world conduct regular expert reviews of the scientific literature. Virtually every one of these expert reviews has come to the same conclusion as the World Health Organization "that current evidence does not confirm the existence of any health consequences from exposure to low level electromagnetic fields". The following is a summary of such reviews released in the past year.
Latest Expert Reports
1. 2015 Update from Swedish Safety Authority.
2. 2015 Updated Report from SCENIHR
The following is a link the the latest review of the scientific literature on the issue of EMF and health by the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) which is an agency of the European Commission. Their new report is entitled: Potential health effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF).The conclusion of their latest 2015 review is similar to their previous 2009 report Health Effects of Exposure to EMF - which is one of the expert reviews listed below.
The latest SCENIHR report is a massive 288 page review of the scientific literature. Like all such reviews, it looked at the full range of both negative and positive scientifically plausible studies. Despite more than 40 years of research and thousands of studies, there is no good evidence of any consistent health effects from EMF within established guidelines.
The following quotes were taken from the Abstract:
"Overall, the epidemiological studies on mobile phone RF EMF exposure do not show an
increased risk of brain tumours. Furthermore, they do not indicate an increased risk for
other cancers of the head and neck region. Some studies raised questions regarding an
increased risk of glioma and acoustic neuroma in heavy users of mobile phones. The
results of cohort and incidence time trend studies do not support an increased risk for
glioma while the possibility of an association with acoustic neuroma remains open.
Epidemiological studies do not indicate increased risk for other malignant diseases,
including childhood cancer.
The earlier described evidence that mobile phone RF EMF exposure may affect brain
activities as reflected by EEG studies during wake and sleep is further substantiated by
Overall, there is a lack of evidence that mobile phone RF EMF affects cognitive functions
in humans. Studies looking at possible effects of RF fields on cognitive function have
often included multiple outcome measures. While effects have been found in individual
studies, these have typically been observed only in a small number of endpoints, with
little consistency between studies.
Symptoms that are attributed by some people to various RF EMF exposure can
sometimes cause serious impairments to a person's quality of life. However, research
conducted since the previous SCENIHR Opinion adds weight to the conclusion that RF
EMF exposure is not causally linked to these symptoms. This applies to the general
public, children and adolescents, and to people with idiopathic environmental intolerance
attributed to electromagnetic fields (IEI-EMF). Recent meta-analyses of observational
and provocation data support this conclusion."
European Economic and Social Committee: Preliminary Draft Opinion on Electromagnetic hypersensitity
Just prior to the release of the latest SCENIHR expert review (above), the Econonic and Social Committee issued an "own initiative" opinion on so called electromagnetic hypersensitivity in anticipation of the final report. This is an interesting document which expresses sympathy for those who claim to suffer from this syndrome. The document notes that since the year 2000 the European Commission has provided funding of EUR 37 million for research into EMF and mobile phones. None the less the document makes the following statement:
"the overwhelming medical and scientific opinion is that there is no conclusive evidence to link the wide range of symptoms described as EHS to electromagnetic or radiofrequency exposure (EMF). Thus the World Health Organisation (WHO) states, "All reviews conducted so far have indicated that exposures below the limits recommended in the ICNIRP (1998) EMF guidelines, covering the full frequency range from 0-300 GHz, do not produce any known adverse health effect." (WHO: Electromagnetic fields (EMF))"
3. IEEE List of Expert Reviews
The IEEE has compiled a list of expert reviews of the scientific literature on EMF and health This list includes links to these reviews as well as a brief summary of the primary conclusions. A total of 58 such reviews are listed. They are all virtually unanimous in concluding that "The results of current scientific research show that there are no evident adverse health effects if [EMF] exposure remains below the levels set by current standards."
1. 2015 Update from Swedish Safety Authority.
2. 2015 Updated Report from SCENIHR
The following is a link the the latest review of the scientific literature on the issue of EMF and health by the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) which is an agency of the European Commission. Their new report is entitled: Potential health effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF).The conclusion of their latest 2015 review is similar to their previous 2009 report Health Effects of Exposure to EMF - which is one of the expert reviews listed below.
The latest SCENIHR report is a massive 288 page review of the scientific literature. Like all such reviews, it looked at the full range of both negative and positive scientifically plausible studies. Despite more than 40 years of research and thousands of studies, there is no good evidence of any consistent health effects from EMF within established guidelines.
The following quotes were taken from the Abstract:
"Overall, the epidemiological studies on mobile phone RF EMF exposure do not show an
increased risk of brain tumours. Furthermore, they do not indicate an increased risk for
other cancers of the head and neck region. Some studies raised questions regarding an
increased risk of glioma and acoustic neuroma in heavy users of mobile phones. The
results of cohort and incidence time trend studies do not support an increased risk for
glioma while the possibility of an association with acoustic neuroma remains open.
Epidemiological studies do not indicate increased risk for other malignant diseases,
including childhood cancer.
The earlier described evidence that mobile phone RF EMF exposure may affect brain
activities as reflected by EEG studies during wake and sleep is further substantiated by
Overall, there is a lack of evidence that mobile phone RF EMF affects cognitive functions
in humans. Studies looking at possible effects of RF fields on cognitive function have
often included multiple outcome measures. While effects have been found in individual
studies, these have typically been observed only in a small number of endpoints, with
little consistency between studies.
Symptoms that are attributed by some people to various RF EMF exposure can
sometimes cause serious impairments to a person's quality of life. However, research
conducted since the previous SCENIHR Opinion adds weight to the conclusion that RF
EMF exposure is not causally linked to these symptoms. This applies to the general
public, children and adolescents, and to people with idiopathic environmental intolerance
attributed to electromagnetic fields (IEI-EMF). Recent meta-analyses of observational
and provocation data support this conclusion."
European Economic and Social Committee: Preliminary Draft Opinion on Electromagnetic hypersensitity
Just prior to the release of the latest SCENIHR expert review (above), the Econonic and Social Committee issued an "own initiative" opinion on so called electromagnetic hypersensitivity in anticipation of the final report. This is an interesting document which expresses sympathy for those who claim to suffer from this syndrome. The document notes that since the year 2000 the European Commission has provided funding of EUR 37 million for research into EMF and mobile phones. None the less the document makes the following statement:
"the overwhelming medical and scientific opinion is that there is no conclusive evidence to link the wide range of symptoms described as EHS to electromagnetic or radiofrequency exposure (EMF). Thus the World Health Organisation (WHO) states, "All reviews conducted so far have indicated that exposures below the limits recommended in the ICNIRP (1998) EMF guidelines, covering the full frequency range from 0-300 GHz, do not produce any known adverse health effect." (WHO: Electromagnetic fields (EMF))"
3. IEEE List of Expert Reviews
The IEEE has compiled a list of expert reviews of the scientific literature on EMF and health This list includes links to these reviews as well as a brief summary of the primary conclusions. A total of 58 such reviews are listed. They are all virtually unanimous in concluding that "The results of current scientific research show that there are no evident adverse health effects if [EMF] exposure remains below the levels set by current standards."
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All trademarks are the property of their respective owners Copyright 2009 EMF & Health
All trademarks are the property of their respective owners Copyright 2009 EMF & Health