A series of animal studies on mobile phone radiofrequency (RF) radiation and health have been conducted over two years by the United States Department of Health and Human Services National Toxicology Program (NTP).
The animal studies were to investigate whether exposure to RF radiation from mobile phones causes any health effects, including cancer.
The studies exposed rats and mice to RF radiation at the same frequencies used by mobile phones. The rats and mice were exposed to levels of 0, 3, 6 or 9 W/kg for up to 9 hours at a time.
Australian mobile phone exposure level limits are set at 2 W/kg, however most mobile phones have lower exposure levels.
Partial findings from the NTP studies were published in May 2016 and ARPANSA reported on those results in the May 2016 Radiation Literature Survey.
Two draft technical reports have been published by the NTP on the full results of the study, and will undergo external peer review by an expert panel during March 2018.
ARPANSA will assess the NTP results and provide advice following the expert panel review.
We publish information about mobile phones and health. A large number of studies have been performed to investigate whether mobile phones pose a potential health risk. It is the assessment of ARPANSA and other national and international health authorities, including the World Health Organization (WHO), that there is no established scientific evidence that the use of mobile phones causes any health effects. However the possibility of harm cannot be completely ruled out.
Read more: ARPANSA reviews animal study on radiofrequency exposure and health
