Webinar: Cell Phones and Wireless: Why Current Exposure Limits Do Not Protect Against Cancer and Reproductive Harm
Video Release: Dr. Ronald Melnick On Cell Phones And Wireless Radiation: Why Current Exposure Limits Do Not Protect Against Cancer And Reproductive Harm
Ronald Melnick, Ph.D. was a senior toxicologist for more than 28 years in the National Toxicology Program (NTP) at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and is Senior Science Advisor and past Chair for the International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields.
The webinar recording, slides, and links are now available on the Collaborative For Health and the Environment webinar page here.
Ronald Melnick, Ph.D. served for more than 28 years as a senior toxicologist with the National Toxicology Program (NTP) at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, where he helped design the NTP’s landmark studies on cell phone radiofrequency (RF) radiation. Those studies, together with the Ramazzini Institute research, found increased cancer in laboratory animals chronically exposed to RF radiation.
During this webinar, Dr. Melnick discusses the scientific evidence linking wireless radiation to cancer and reproductive harm, explains why the U.S. Food and Drug Administration nominated RF radiation for study by the NTP, and reviews the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) 2011 evaluation that classified RF radiation as a possible human carcinogen.
He explains why the WHO-commissioned systematic reviews on RF radiation should not be interpreted as evidence of safety and discusses the methodological shortcomings identified in “WHO Commissioned Systematic Reviews on Health Effects of Radiofrequency Radiation Provide No Assurance of Safety,” published in Environmental Health. (Read the paper)
The webinar examined the scientific basis of the RF exposure limits adopted by the FCC, ICNIRP, and IEEE, drawing from the International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields (ICBE-EMF) publication “Scientific Evidence Invalidates Health Assumptions Underlying the FCC and ICNIRP Exposure Limit Determinations for Radiofrequency Radiation: Implications for 5G.” (Read the paper)
Finally, Dr. Melnick presented his latest quantitative cancer risk assessment, “Cancer Risk Assessment of Radiofrequency Radiation Using U.S. EPA Methodology,” which applied EPA cancer risk methods to the NTP findings. The analysis concluded that current FCC, IEEE and ICNIRP exposure limits are at least 200 times too high to protect against cancer risk and 24 times too high to protect against reproductive harm. (Read the paper)
About Ronald Melnick, Ph.D.
Ronald Melnick, Ph.D., served for more than 28 years as a senior toxicologist with the National Toxicology Program at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. He led the design and interpretation of numerous toxicity and carcinogenicity studies, including the NTP’s landmark investigations of cell phone radiofrequency radiation. He is Senior Science Advisor and Past Chair of the International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields (ICBE-EMF).
Dr. Melnick has served on numerous scientific advisory committees and review panels, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). He also served in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and is a Fellow (Emeritus) of the Collegium Ramazzini and has published several papers on RF as well as other environmental health issues.
Hosted by: The Collaborative for Health & Environment and Environmental Health Sciences, September 30, 2026
The webinar will be moderated by Theodora Scarato, Director of the Wireless and EMF Program at Environmental Health Sciences. (Biography)
ICBE-EMF Factsheets
Briefing for Policymakers on FCC Limits and Wireless.
Factsheet: Government Exposure Limits for RF
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Scientific Papers Discussed In The Webinar
Heroux P et al. 2023. Cell Phone Radiation Exposure Limits and Engineering Solutions. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 20(7), 5398. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20075398
ICBE-EMF. 2023. Simple engineering fixes could dramatically reduce cellphone radiation, scientists say. Press release, April 4, 2023.
ICBE-EMF. 2026. Current Cell Phone and Wireless Radiation Limits Fail to Protect Against Cancer and Reproductive Harm, New Study Finds – International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields. Press release, March 14, 2026.
ICBE-EMF. 2026. Safeguarding Children’s Health in the Digital Age: Addressing Screen Time, Wireless Radiation, and Extremely Low Frequency Non-Ionizing Electromagnetic Field Exposures. Position statement, September 9, 2026.
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). 2011. IARC classifies radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans. IARC press release No. 208.
Melnick R et al. 2026. Exposure limits to radiofrequency EMF do not account for cancer risk or reproductive toxicity assessed from data in experimental animals. Environmental Health 25:42.
Mevissen M et al. 2025. Effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic field exposure on cancer in laboratory animal studies, a systematic review. Environment International 109482: 199.
Related Webinars
Health Hazards of Wireless Technologies: What do we know now? (Dr. Joel Moskowitz, CHE webinar, 2024)
The ICNIRP and FCC Exposure Limits for Radiofrequency EMF are Based on Invalid Assumptions (Dr. Ronald Melnick speaking at III Brazilian Meeting on Electromagnetic Protection)
Invisible Hazards: State of the Science on EMF Health Impacts and Next Steps for Policy Change (Drs. Frank Barnes, De-Kun Li, Joel Moskowitz, CHE webinar, 2018)
Wireless Technology and Public Health: Health and Environmental Hazards in a Wireless World(Dr. Joel Moskowitz, CHE audio recording, 2016)
Clarifying EMF and Cancer: Precautionary Occupational Strategies and Results of the NTP Cell Phone Studies (Drs. Joseph Bowman, Michael Wyde, CHE webinar-related slides and other resources, 2016)