Science Facts About Children, Cell Phones, Wireless Radiation and Health
The American Academy of Pediatrics states that children are more vulnerable to cell phone radiation and has long called for an update to government regulations because current safety limits do not consider long term exposure, childrens unique vulnerability nor the way children use devices today, close to the body.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer says children can absorb up to 10 times more wireless radiation in the bone marrow of their skull compared to adults.
Research investigating cell phone radiofrequency (RF) radiation has found children absorb greater RF levels into their brain and head tissue compared to adults
- 2 times greater into the cerebellum
- 3 times greater into the eyes
- 10 fold greater into the skull
- 30 fold greater in the hippocampus
Stem cells are more active in children and these cell types have been found to be more sensitive to wireless frequencies compared to more mature differentiated cells.
Government regulatory limits for cell phones and wireless devices were set decades ago in 1996 and they are based on adult cell phone usage. For example, before a cell phone can be put on the market, they are radiation tested against a body phantom of a large 220 pound male model, not a child model.
A 2021 study analyzing the findings of tumor and heart damage from the National Toxicology Program study concluded that FCC limits on cell phone radiation exposure are inadequate to protect against identified health impacts. The scientists recommend that the limits be strengthened by 200 to 400 times to protect children according to current risk assessment guidelines.
Studies to know:
- A Yale study funded by the American Cancer Society found elevated thyroid cancer risk in heavy cell phone users with specific genetic susceptibilities. .
- A 2020 meta analysis of case control studies found that cumulative cell phone use over 1000 hours significantly increased tumor risk.
- Several scientific publications now conclude that the current body of evidence has significantly increased and cell phone radiation is proven Group 1 human carcinogen (See Miller et al 2018, Peleg et al 2021, Carlberg and Hardell 2017, Belpomme et al 2018,)
- Research has found women who carry cellphones in the bra have elevated breast cancer risk (See West et al 2013, Shih et al 2020).
- Systematic reviews associate cell phone radiation with impacts to sperm and decreased testosterone leading many researchers to conclude “it is recommended to keep the cell phone away from the pelvis as much as possible.”
- Cell phone radiation has been found to alter brain activity in an NIH study.
- A replication study on teenagers found memory damage to the area of the brain most exposed to cell phone radiation when the phone is held close to the head.
- Research on pregnant women has linked prenatal cell phone radiation exposure to emotional/behavioral problems and hyperactivity in their children.
Scientific References
Frank, J. W. (2021). Electromagnetic fields, 5G and health: What about the precautionary principle? J Epidemiol Community Health, 75(6), 562–566.
Hardell, L. (2018). Effects of Mobile Phones on Children’s and Adolescents’ Health: A Commentary. Child Development, 89(1), 137–140.
Kelley, E., Blank, M., Lai, H., Moskowitz, J., & Havas, M. (2015). International Appeal: Scientists call for protection from non-ionizing electromagnetic field exposure. European Journal of Oncology, Volume 20, 180–182.
Lissak, G. (2018). Adverse physiological and psychological effects of screen time on children and adolescents: Literature review and case study. Environmental Research, 164, 149–157.
Miller, A. B., Sears, M. E., Morgan, L. L., Davis, D. L., Hardell, L., Oremus, M., & Soskolne, C. L. (2019). Risks to Health and Well-Being From Radio-Frequency Radiation Emitted by Cell Phones and Other Wireless Devices. Frontiers in Public Health, 7.
Bandara, P., & Carpenter, D. O. (2018). Planetary electromagnetic pollution: It is time to assess its impact. The Lancet Planetary Health, 2(12), e512–e514.
Belpomme, D., Hardell, L., Belyaev, I., Burgio, E., & Carpenter, D. O. (2018). Thermal and non-thermal health effects of low intensity non-ionizing radiation: An international perspective. Environmental Pollution, 242, 643–658.
Carpenter DO. (2013) Human disease resulting from exposure to electromagnetic fields. Rev Environ Health.;28(4):159-72.
Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research Services (European Parliament), & Belpoggi, F. (2021). Health impact of 5G: Current state of knowledge of 5G related carcinogenic and reproductive/developmental hazards as they emerge from epidemiological studies and in vivo experimental studies. Publications Office of the European Union.
International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields (ICBE-EMF), (2022). Scientific evidence invalidates health assumptions underlying the FCC and ICNIRP exposure limit determinations for radiofrequency radiation: implications for 5G. Environ Health. Oct 18;21(1):92.
McCredden, J. E., Cook, N., Weller, S., & Leach, V. (2022). Wireless technology is an environmental stressor requiring new understanding and approaches in health care. Frontiers in Public Health, 10.
Miller, A. B., Sears, M. E., Morgan, L. L., Davis, D. L., Hardell, L., Oremus, M., & Soskolne, C. L. (2019). Risks to Health and Well-Being From Radio-Frequency Radiation Emitted by Cell Phones and Other Wireless Devices. Frontiers in Public Health, 7.
Miller, A. B., Morgan, L. L., Udasin, I., & Davis, D. L. (2018). Cancer epidemiology update, following the 2011 IARC evaluation of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (Monograph 102). Environmental Research, 167, 673–683.
Moon, J.-H. (2020). Health effects of electromagnetic fields on children. Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics, 63(11), 422–428.
Redmayne, M., & Johansson, O. (2015). Radiofrequency exposure in young and old: Different sensitivities in light of age-relevant natural differences. Reviews on Environmental Health, 30(4), 323–335.
Sage, C., & Burgio, E. (2018). Electromagnetic Fields, Pulsed Radiofrequency Radiation, and Epigenetics: How Wireless Technologies May Affect Childhood Development. Child Development, 89(1), 129–136.
Childrens Higher Exposures
Cabot, E., Christ, A., Bühlmann, B., Zefferer, M., Chavannes, N., Bakker, J. F., van Rhoon, G. C., & Kuster, N. (2014). Quantification Of RF-exposure of the Fetus Using Anatomical CAD-Models in Three Different Gestational Stages. Health Physics, 107(5), 369–381.
Christ, M.-C. Gosselin, M. Christopoulou, S. Kühn, N. Kuster, 2010 “Age-dependent
tissue-specific exposure of cell phone users”, Physics Medicine Biology 55, pp.
1767–1783
Fernández, C., de Salles, A. A., Sears, M. E., Morris, R. D., & Davis, D. L. (2018). Absorption of wireless radiation in the child versus adult brain and eye from cell phone conversation or virtual reality. Environmental Research, 167, 694–699.
Fernández-Rodríguez, C. E., De Salles, A. A. A., & Davis, D. L. (2015). Dosimetric Simulations of Brain Absorption of Mobile Phone Radiation–The Relationship Between psSAR and Age. IEEE Access, 3, 2425–2430.
Ferreira, J., & Almeida de Salles, A. (2015). Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) in the head of Tablet users. The 7Th IEEE Latin-American Conference On Communications (Latincom 2015), 1538, 5-9. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
Gandhi, O. P. (2015). Yes the Children Are More Exposed to Radiofrequency Energy From Mobile Telephones Than Adults. IEEE Access, 3, 985–988.
Gandhi, O. P., Morgan, L. L., de Salles, A. A., Han, Y.-Y., Herberman, R. B., & Davis, D. L. (2012). Exposure Limits: The underestimation of absorbed cell phone radiation, especially in children. Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine, 31(1), 34–51.
Mohammed, B., Jin, J., Abbosh, A. M., Bialkowski, K. S., Manoufali, M., & Crozier, S. (2017). Evaluation of Children’s Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields of Mobile Phones Using Age-Specific Head Models With Age-Dependent Dielectric Properties. IEEE Access, 5, 27345–27353.
Siervo, B., Morelli, M. S., Landini, L., & Hartwig, V. (2018). Numerical evaluation of human exposure to WiMax patch antenna in tablet or laptop. Bioelectromagnetics, 39(5), 414–422.
Wang J, Fujiwara O, Kodera S, Watanabe S. FDTD calculation of whole-body average SAR in adult and child models for frequencies from 30 MHz to 3 GHz. Phys Med Biol. 2006 Sep 7;51(17):4119-27. doi: 10.1088/0031-9155/51/17/001. Epub 2006 Aug 8. PMID: 16912372.