Can using your cell phone give you brain cancer?

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Is using a cell phone harmful to your health? In the first of a two-parter, Risk Bites looks at the chances of your cell phone giving you brain cancer (spoiler alert: not a lot). Next time -- the more worrisome risk of your phone placing you in a life or death situation.

Note: The video refers to the World Health Organization review of cell phones and potential to cause cancer that was released in 2011. This study was conducted by the International Association for Research on Cancer (IARC) -- IARC is a WHO specialized agency.

This week's Risk Bites team:
David Faulkner (Script, post-production)
Andrew Maynard (all the other stuff)

Useful resources:

World Health Organization:

National Cancer Institute information on cell phones and cancer risk:

Carcinogenicity of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields. Baan et al.
The Lancet Oncology (2011) Volume 12, Issue 7, Pages 624-626
(11)70147-4

Cell Phones, Cancer, and Children, Boyce and Tarone. J Natl Cancer Inst (2011) 103 (16): 1211-1213.

Mobile phone use and glioma risk: comparison of epidemiological study results with incidence trends in the United States. Little et al. BMJ (2012); 344

Challenging cell phone impact on reproduction: A Review. Mehri, Z. O. Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics (2012), Volume 29, Issue 4, pp 293-297

IARC Classifies Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields As Possibly Carcinogenic To Humans (IARC press release):

Classification of agents in IARC monographs:

ITU Global Technology Development figures, 2012:

Xkcd (just for fun!)


Risk Bites is supported by the Arizona State University Risk Innovation Lab and School for the Future of Innovation in Society

Risk Bites is your guide to making sense of risk. We cover everything from understanding and balancing the risks and benefits of everyday products, to health science more broadly, to the potential impacts of emerging technologies, to making sense of risk perception. If you enjoy our videos, please subscribe, and spread the word!