17 th November 2017: Press Announcement BioInitiative Working Group 2017
A new update from the the BioInitiative Working Group 2017 shows the evidence has strengthened for brain cancers related to wireless phone use. The Group has released an update analyzing scientific results of case-control studies published between 2010 and 2017 on cancers of the brain.
For glioma, a malignant brain cancer with a very poor survival rate especially for high-grade
glioma, there is nearly a doubling of the risk overall if the cell phone is used for 1,640 hours or
more. If the cell phone is used primarily on the same side of the head however, the odds of
getting a tumor on that side of the head increase to more than two and a half times compared to
those with no wireless phone exposure.
Survival time after brain tumor diagnosis is also shorter with wireless phone use in patients with
glioblastoma multiforme, compared to patients with no use.
“There is a consistent pattern of increased risk for glioma (a malignant brain tumor) and
acoustic neuroma with use of mobile and cordless phones” says Lennart Hardell, MD, PhD,
Orebro University, Sweden, according to publications through mid-2017. “Epidemiological
evidence shows that radiofrequency should be classified as a Group 1 (Known) Human
Carcinogen. The evidence for risks to health from brain tumors has substantially increased since
2010. The existing FCC/IEEE and ICNIRP public safety limits are not adequate to protect public
health.”
An increased risk in acoustic neuroma (a non-malignant tumor of the auditory nerve) is also
reported. Cell phone users with 1,640 hours or more of use are nearly two and three-quarters
more likely than non-users to develop an acoustic neuroma when the phone is used primarily on
the side of the head where the tumor occurs.
Both cell phones and cordless phones pose a risk of brain tumors.
Link to the Bioinitiative Press Announcement below:
BioInitiative Report Supplement 11, 2017, Hardell and Carlberg) Hardell-2017-Sec11-Update-Use_of_Wireless_Phones
