Completely revised with additional information: November 30, 2019

All documents accessed November 30, 2019

U.S. Government Cell Phone Radiation Studies – Cancer & DNA Damage
National Toxicology Program: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:
Cell Phone Radio Frequency Radiation

NTP conducted two-year toxicology studies in rats and mice to help clarify potential health hazards, including cancer risk, from exposure to RFR like that used in 2G and 3G cell phones which operate within a range of frequencies from about 700–2700 megahertz (MHz). These were published as Technical Reports in November 2018.

The NTP studies found that high exposure to RFR (900 MHz) used by cell phones was associated with:

• Clear evidence of tumors in the hearts of male rats. The tumors were malignant schwannomas.
• Some evidence of tumors in the brains of male rats. The tumors were malignant gliomas.
• Some evidence of tumors in the adrenal glands of male rats. The tumors were benign, malignant, or complex combined pheochromocytoma.

Also:

As a follow-up, NTP submitted a manuscript accepted for publication in October 2019 that evaluated DNA damage in three regions of the brain, the liver, and in blood cells in rats and mice that were removed at an earlier timepoint from the ongoing 2-year toxicology study. DNA damage, if not repaired, can potentially lead to tumors. . . .

NTP scientists found that RFR exposure was associated with an increase in DNA damage. Specifically, they found RFR exposure was linked with significant increases in DNA damage in:

• the frontal cortex of the brain in male mice,
• the blood cells of female mice, and
• the hippocampus of male rats.

What are NTP’s future plans for studying cell phone RFR and 5G wireless technology?

5G is the emergent technology that will eventually overtake the existing 2G, 3G, and 4G technology. In the meantime, people will continue to be exposed to RFR in the 700–2700 MHz range. As the 5G network is implemented, some of the signals used by the 5G network will use the same lower frequencies used by the older technology previously studied by NTP, but the 5G network will also use higher frequencies—up to 60,000 MHz—thereby exposing wireless users to a much broader spectrum of frequencies. The higher frequencies, known as millimeter waves, can rapidly transmit enormous amounts of data . . . Millimeter waves do not travel as far and do not penetrate the body as deeply as do the wavelengths from the lower frequencies. Millimeter waves are likely to penetrate no deeper than the skin, whereas the lower frequencies have been shown to penetrate at least three to four inches into the human body.

NTP is currently evaluating the existing literature on the higher frequencies intended for use in the 5G network and is working to better understand the biological basis for the cancer findings reported in earlier studies on RFR with 2G and 3G technologies. Additionally, work is ongoing to develop smaller RFR exposure chambers for additional short-term studies that will take weeks and months to complete rather than years. . . .

From: https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/htdocs/lt_rpts/tr595_508.pdf
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“NTP TECHNICAL REPORT ON THE TOXICOLOGY AND CARCINOGENESIS STUDIES IN Hsd:SPRAGUE DAWLEY SD RATS
EXPOSED TO WHOLE-BODY RADIO FREQUENCY RADIATION AT A FREQUENCY (900 MHz) AND MODULATIONS (GSM AND CDMA) USED BY CELL PHONES”
NATIONAL TOXICOLOGY PROGRAM P.O. Box 12233 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
November 2018
NTP TR 595
National Institutes of Health
Public Health Service
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES