Review date
23 February 2024
Article publication date
January 2024
Summary
This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the current evidence on the association between longer-term or repeated radiofrequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) exposure and tinnitus, migraine and non-specific symptoms among the general and working populations. A total of 13 papers (including 486, 558 participants), which reported local (e.g., brain) or whole-body RF-EMF exposure for at least 1 week were included in the review. The associations between RF-EMF exposure to the whole-body or brain and the health outcomes were examined in terms of pooled relative risk (RR) or standardized mean difference (SMD). The synthesis of evidence was conducted according to the OHAT guidelines.
For tinnitus, the pooled RR was 1.43 (95% Confidence Interval, CI: 0.94 to 2.18) per 100 minutes of wireless phone call time per week. For migraine, the RR was 1.2 (95% CI: 1.1 to 1.3) for mobile phone subscribers compared to non-subscribers. For headache, the pooled change in SMD was 0.64 (95%CI: -2.38 to 1.10) per 100 minutes of wireless phone call time per week. For sleep disturbances, the pooled change in SMD was 1.51 (95% CI: - 2.00 to 5.03) per 1 V/m of exposure. For non-specific symptoms, the pooled change in SMD was 1.13 (95% CI: - 0.94 to 3.20) per 1 V/m of exposure. Overall, the findings of the review showed that there is no association between RF-EMF exposure and the investigated health outcomes. However, the absence of associations reported is based on very low certainty evidence. The results also indicated that RF-EMF exposure below the values defined in the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) guidelines does not cause tinnitus, migraine or any non-specific symptoms.
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ARPANSA commentary
The review provides state-of-the art evidence on whether a long-term RF-EMF exposure to whole-body or brain is related to adverse health outcomes in the general and working populations. The included studies in the review have numerous limitations, including indirectness of the exposure surrogate (e.g., self-reported number/duration of phone calls or mobile phone subscriptions resulting in near field exposure), self-reported health outcomes and the relatively short follow-up periods in longitudinal studies. Very low certainty evidence on the associations reported in the review was attributed to a limited number of studies, possible risk of bias in some studies, inconsistencies, indirectness, and imprecision. The review indicates that exposure to RF-EMF below the limits described in the ICNIRP guidelines does not cause the health effects investigated in the study. This is in line with the public health message of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) on RF-EMF exposure and health. The general public RF-EMF exposures in Australia generally are far below the human safety limits given in the Australian safety Standard (e.g., RPS-S1) and the ICNIRP limits. The Australian Safety Standard, developed by ARPANSA, is consistent with the ICNIRP guidelines and is based on validated international scientific evidence. Further, the findings reinforce the assessment of ARPANSA that there is no substantiated evidence that RF-EMF exposures at levels below the limits set in the Australian standard cause any adverse health effects, including those assessed in this review. The review forms a part of the World Health Organization’s ongoing project to assess potential health effects of RF-EMF in the general and working population and ARPANSA is supporting this process.
