A new report from the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research (FAS) summarizes the last ten years of research on health risks from the exposure to so-called radio frequency fields, specifically radiation emitted by equipment for mobile telephony.

In 2003 FAS was commissioned by the government to monitor issues relating to research into electromagnetic hypersensitivity. The assignment was to regularly and in consultation with relevant agencies and organizations, document and inform about the state of knowledge in the field.

A total of eight annual reports have been published in connection with the assignment. In every report a number of current research projects were presented. The reports have been produced by a project group chaired by Professor Anders Ahlbom of the Institute of Environmental Medicine at Karolinska Institutet.

The report executive summary concludes

"Overall, the data on brain tumor and mobile telephony do not support an effect of mobile phone use on tumor risk, in particular when taken together with national cancer trend statistics throughout the world.

Research on mobile telephony and health started without a biologically or epidemiologically based hypothesis about possible health risks. Instead the inducement was an unspecific concern related to a new and rapidly spreading technology.

Extensive research for more than a decade has not detected anything new regarding interaction mechanisms between radiofrequency fields and the human body and has found no evidence for health risks below current exposure guidelines.

While absolute certainty can never be achieved, nothing has appeared to suggest that the since long established interaction mechanism of heating would not suffice as basis for health protection."

Click here for the FAS report and news item.