Timeline
WHO Initiatives on Wireless Health Effects
Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) EMF Project’s last completed research review on wireless radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic field (EMF) is dated 1993. The Project has sought to revise the monograph for over a decade. Its first attempt in 2013 was abandoned over transparency issues. In 2019, the WHO EMF Project relaunched the effort and started by choosing scientists to conduct several systematic reviews on RF-EMF. However, yet again, the selection process was criticized as it lacked transparency. Despite the accumulated scientific evidence indicating serious health risks, the systematic reviews that are being published now by the EMF Project generally conclude that there are no health risks. ICBE-EMF scientists are reviewing them.
The WHO EMF Project reviews will be used as the evidentiary basis for a new monograph on radiofrequency radiation and will reinforce the WHO’s EMF Project’s previously held erroneous position that there is no evidence indicating a health risk. This position is consistent with that of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), an affiliate organization to the EMF Project. Further, it may be used to justify changing ICNIRPs current RF exposure limits which have been challenged by independent EMF scientists as adequately protective against human health risks and failing to consider known biological effects, including from long term exposure.
Expert Criticism of the WHO Review
One of the world’s most renowned scientists on the health effects of wireless radiation, Dr. James C. Lin, Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois, Chicago, who was formerly a Commissioner with the International Commission for Non ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), criticized the WHO EMF Projects systematic reviews in an IEEE article which featured several ICBE-EMF members stating:
“The criticisms and challenges encountered by the published WHO-EMF systematic reviews are brutal, including calls for retraction. Rigorous examinations of the reviews reveal major concerns. In addition to the scientific quality, they appear to have a strong conviction of nothing but heat to worry about with RF radiation. The unsubtle message that cellular mobile phones do not pose a cancer risk is clear. The reviews exhibit a lack of serious concerns for conflicts of interest and display unequivocal support for the recently promulgated ICNIRP RF exposure guidelines for human safety.”
Click HERE to review recent critiques published by ICBE-EMF’s challenging some of these WHO Systematic Reviews.
The WHO EMF Project is separate from the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer
The WHO has two very different and separate organizations that address non-ionizing EMFs, the WHO EMF Project and the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Below are timelines of each organization regarding evaluations of wireless and non-ionizing EMF radiation.
The WHO EMF Project
The WHO Electromagnetic Field (EMF) Project is mandated “to investigate detrimental health effects from exposure of people to non-ionizing radiation.” Among its key goals, the EMF Project is charged with “assessing the scientific literature and incorporating the research findings into WHO’s Environmental Health Criteria monographs where formal health risk assessments will be made on exposure to EMF”. Once published, this monograph would serve as an international reference guide for developing EMF-RF exposure standards. The EMF Project also posts facts sheets online to inform the public, all of which conclude there are no health riss The EMF Project was established with financing from the telecommunications industry and has been long criticized for a lack of transparency and deep ties with ICNIRP. It is located under WHO’s Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health (EHC) in the Healthier Populations (UHC) cluster.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)convenes working groups of expert scientists, vetted for conflicts of interest, to evaluate the scientific evidence on agents and substances that can cause cancer by analyzing human, animal and mechanistic studies in a transparent rigorous process. IARC has published two EMF monographs detailing the science base for their evaluation of both Extremely Low Electromagnetic Fields (2002) and Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields (2013) as “possibly carcinogenic to humans.”
Timeline: WHO EMF Project on Wireless RF EMF Health Effects
1993: WHO issues monograph on adverse effects concludes research is inadequate
In 1993, the WHO released a monograph on the adverse effects to human health of electromagnetic field 300 HZ to 300 GHZ which reported incomplete and minimal data on the effects of pulsed RF fields (used in wireless technology today) under long term low level exposure conditions. The monograph notably concluded there were numerous data gaps in regards to humans and cancer that signifies that “the available scientific evidence is an entirely inadequate basis for recommendations of health protection guidelines.”
2013- 2014: WHO International EMF Project drafts partial assessment on RF health effects and then drops effort.
The WHO EMF Project initiated a formal risk assessment of the research offering a partial draft for public consultation to be finalized in 2016. According to the EMF Project, the draft document, which received about 700 comments, was ultimately abandoned in 2014 over criticisms about lack of transparency, quality, and conflicts of interest. (Hardell 2017).
As an example, the WHO EMF Project released a request for public consultation in 2014,that had been written by several ICNIRP experts which omitted key sections on the final conclusions regarding health effects. The WHO consultation stated, “Note that the chapters 1, 13 and 14 which will provide a summary, health risk assessment and protective measures are not available for this consultation. The drawing of conclusions from the literature and the drafting of these chapters is the remit of a formal Task Group that will be convened by WHO at a later stage in the process.” How can the public comment on conclusions analysing the data when the report is incomplete?
2018: The WHO EMF Project relaunches effort with new survey
The WHO EMF Project relaunched the effort by calling for scientific experts to respond to an online survey entitled “Rating Potential Adverse Health Outcomes of Exposure to Radiofrequency Fields” to help focus the research on specific health related endpoints. Over 300 RF experts were invited to participate in the survey and 167 responses were received.
2019: The WHO EMF Program invited scientists to apply to conduct systematic reviews with an unknown selection process.
The WHO EMF Program then put out an official “Call for expressions of interest” inviting scientists to apply to participate in systematic reviews on the identified health topics. An unknown WHO “selection committee” was formed to rank the teams and choose the scientists to perform the systematic reviews. Several scientists with expertise in EMF and health sent a letter to WHO EMF Project leadership asking how the selection committee and the teams were selected but they never got a response.
None of the EMF scientists who signed the International EMF Scientist Appeal and who had applied to the WHO to serve on the research teams were chosen. However, all the selected research teams included ICNIRP scientists (See Microwave News 2023).
2021: WHO EMF Project publishes health outcome priorities for research
The WHO published the results of its survey on research priorities for RF-EMF exposure and how it was commissioning research reviews on the topic areas in the paper “Prioritizing health outcomes when assessing the effects of exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields: A survey among experts” in Environment International.
Environmental International has published the review protocols and completed reviews in a special issue of the journal entitled ”WHO assessment of health effects of exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields: systematic reviews.” When all the reviews are completed they will be then used to inform an updated Environmental Health Criteria monograph.
The WHO systematic reviews (SR) evaluate ten health related topics.
Some topics are reviewed in two separate papers as noted.
SR1: Effect of RF exposure to cancer in cancer human observational studies.
- Part 1: Most researched outcomes. Status: Completed (Karipidis et al. 2024)
- Part 2: Less researched outcomes: Status: Completed (Karipidis et al. 2025)
- Published protocol (Lagorio et al. 2021)
SR2: Effect of RF exposure to cancer human in animal studies
- Status: In process
- Published protocol (Mevissen et al. 2022)
SR3: Effect of RF exposure on adverse reproductive outcomes in human observational studies
- Male fertility. Status: Completed, (Kenny et al. 2024)
- Female reproductive. Status: Completed (Johnson et al. 2024)
- Published protocol (Ryan et al. 2022 )
SR 4: Effect of RF exposure to adverse reproductive outcomes in animal and in vitro studies
- Male fertility: experimental studies on non-human mammals and human sperm in vitro, (Cordelli et al., 2024)
- Pregnancy and birth outcomes: experimental studies on non-human mammals: Status completed (Cordelli et al. 2023)
- Published protocol (Pacchierotti et al. 2021)
SR5: Effect of exposure to RF on cognitive impairment (human observational studies)
- Status: Completed (Benke et al., 2024)
- Published protocol (Benke et al. 2022)
SR6: Effect of exposure to RF on cognitive impairment (human experimental studies)
- Status: Completed (Pophof et al. 2024)
- Published protocol (Pophof et al. 2021)
SR7: Effect of exposure to RF on symptoms (human observational studies)
- Status: Completed (Roosli et al., 2024)
- Published protocol (Röösli et al. 2021
SR8: Effect of exposure to RF on symptoms (human experimental studies)
- Status: Completed (Bosch-Capblanch et al, 2024)
- Published protocol Bosch-Capblanch, et al 2022
SR9: Effect of exposure to RF on biomarkers of oxidative stress
- Status: Completed Meyer et al., 2014
- Published protocol Henschenmacher et al 2022
SR10: Effect of exposure to heat from any source and pain, burns, cataract and heat-related illness.
- Status: Unknown
- Protocol: Unknown
2021 to Today: Publication of WHO EMF Project backed research protocols and completed reviews
The journal Environmental International began publishing the protocols for the EMF Project reviews as well as the final completed reviews in a special issue of the journal ”WHO assessment of health effects of exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields: systematic reviews.”
Microwave News, which has been reporting on the issue since 1981, also has been following the WHO SR process and has published several articles on the controversy regarding the WHO EMF reviews.
- September 11, 2024: “Old Wine in New Bottles” on how the Karipidis et al 2024 cancer review included the Danish cohort study “deemed unreliable” and how several of the SR authors had previously published reviews with essentially the same no-risk message.
- August 23, 2024: Forth Review Questioned on Bevington’s letter on the Bosch-Capblanch et al. review.
- August 21, 2024: Microwave News “Another WHO RF Review Challenged: More than 99% of Studies on Oxidative Stress Discarded”
- November 4, 2019: Will WHO Kick Its ICNIRP Habit? Non-Thermal Effects Hang in the Balance details the launch of the reviews and issues related to the selection process, the history of the WHO EMF Project and longstanding ties to ICNIRP.
Timeline: WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)
2002: WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer evaluates extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields as “possibly carcinogenic” (Group 2B)
The WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) evaluated extremely low frequency magnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B) largely based on pooled analyses of epidemiological studies demonstrating a consistent pattern of a two-fold increase in childhood leukaemia associated with average exposure to residential power-frequency magnetic field above 3 to 4 milligauss magnetic field. The studies are detailed in the
2002 monograph “Non-ionizing radiation, part 1: Static and extremely low-frequency (elf) electric and magnetic fields.”
2011: WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) evaluates wireless RF radiofrequency as “possibly carcinogenic” (Group 2B)
The WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified RF-EMFs as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B), largely based on epidemiological studies demonstrating an increased risk for tumors associated with wireless phone use (See the 2011 press release and research monograph issued in 2013.
2019: WHO IARC advisory group recommends Radiofrequency Radiation be re-evaluated
In 2019, the WHO/IARC advisory committee recommended wireless RF radiation be re-evaluated by 2024 as a “high priority.” The scientific basis for the decision was documented in the Report of the Advisory Group to Recommend Priorities for the IARC Monographs during 2020–2024 which highlights how new epidemiological and experimental animal studies should be evaluated.
2024: WHO IARC advisory group recommends Radiofrequency Radiation be re-evaluated
In 2024, the WHO/IARC advisory committee again recommended wireless RF radiation be re-evaluated by 2029 as a “high priority” as documented in the Report of the Advisory Group to Recommend Priorities for the IARC Monographs during 2025–2029. A date has not been set.