There is no persuasive evidence that using normal mobile phones or exposure to pylons and power lines causes harmful health effects, such as cancer, according to Europe’s largest body of engineering and technology professionals.
The findings are published as part of a new Position Statement from the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). Its Biological Effects Policy Advisory Group (BEPAG) says that the overwhelming majority of the evidence does not indicate that normal exposure to low-level electromagnetic fields has harmful health effects.
Professor Tony Barker, a Fellow of the IET and chairman of BEPAG, said: “There is still a huge amount of interest in whether exposure to mobile phones and electricity pylons has harmful health effects.
“However, over the years the conclusion of most scientific bodies, including the Institution of Engineering and Technology, has remained substantially the same - that there is no persuasive evidence of this.
“The absence of robust new evidence of harmful health effects in the past two years is reassuring and is consistent with findings over the last two decades.”
The Position Statement reviewed 813 scientific papers. Of these, 44 per cent covered static and low frequencies, typically associated with power generation and distribution. 46 per cent of the papers dealt with radio-frequency fields, and 64 per cent of these were specifically related to mobile phone frequencies.
Notes to Editors
- The full report is available at http://www.theiet.org/factfiles/bioeffects/emf-position.cfm
- BEPAG uses refereed papers as its source material, retrieved from a broad global literature search of a range of electronic databases.
- The literature searches retrieved a total of 813 relevant papers in 2008 and 2009 combined, a publication rate largely unchanged since 2000. Of these 44% (previously 47%) covered static and low frequencies, primarily relating to power-frequency fields associated with power generation and distribution. 46% (previously 42%) of the papers dealt with RF fields, of which 64% (unchanged since 2006/7) were specifically related to mobile-phone frequencies. These figures show the continuing trend, observed in previous BEPAG Position Statements, for EMF research to refocus from power frequencies towards mobile-phone frequencies.
About the IET
The Institution of Engineering and Technology is Europe’s largest professional societies for the engineering and technology community. The IET has more than 150,000 members in 127 countries and offices in the UK, Bangalore, Beijing, Hong Kong and New York. The IET provides a global knowledge network to facilitate the exchange of ideas and promote the positive role of science, engineering and technology in the world. For more information, see www.theiet.org
