Recent Advances in Bioelectromagnetics Research on Mobile Telephony and Health—An Introduction

It is not widely known that biological and health effects of radiofrequency (RF) energy have been studied for about 50 years. Currently, there are about 1500 published studies related to RF health research, covering various disciplines from biophysics to epidemiology, usually defined as bioelectromagnetics research. All these studies can be found at WHO EMF database (http://www.who.int/peh-emf/en/). Current international EMF safety guidelines, established by the International Commission on Nonionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) and IEEE, are based on this extensive research database. Recent advances in multidisciplinary bioelectromagnetics research addressing mobile telephony and health issue have significantly increased our knowledge about fundamental scientific questions in this area. Improved dosimetry and exposure design have made it possible to conduct well-controlled biomedical experiments. Several carefully conducted theoretical biophysical analyses have also increased our understanding about the responses of cell macromolecules to RF energy. However, inconsistent molecular biological findings have raised questions whether the observed changes are real and whether they have any significance on human health. In this regard, part of the biomedical research community has forgotten a fundamental rule that an observed effect cannot be considered established if it has not been independently replicated and confirmed by other researchers. RF energy—cancer link has been rejected by recent carefully conducted animal studies. However, inconsistent epidemiological findings and misinterpretation of epidemiological data continue to create confusion in mobile telephony—cancer debate in many countries. Studies on other health endpoints than cancer have not either been able to confirm any adverse health effects in humans, such as effects on central nervous system (CNS) at low RF exposure levels. The weight of scientific evidence shows that RF energy does not cause adverse health effects in humans below the internationally accepted RF exposure guidelines, such as established by ICNIRP and IEEE.