Public Review provided by RRG＊ on US National Toxicology Program report of Partial Findings from the NTP Carcinogenesis Studies of Cell Phone Radiation in rats.
The US National Toxicology Program (NTP) has carried out extensive rodent toxicology and carcinogenesis studies of radiofrequency radiation (RF) at frequencies and modulations used in the US telecommunications industry.
The NTP study was designed to evaluate potential, long-term health effects of whole-body RF exposures. Studies were carried out on rats and mice using exposure systems with two RF signals (CDMA and GSM) at two frequencies (900 MHz for rats and 1900 MHz for mice). The exposure levels were 1.5 W/kg, 3 W/kg or 6 W/kg in calculated whole-body SAR. RF exposures of rats were started in utero and continued for up to 106 weeks.
NTP has reported part of their results on May 26, 2016, before full publication at the end of 2017. Their report presents partial results regarding to small increase in the incidence of disease from RF exposure only observed in male rats.
Publisher：US National Toxicology Program report. bioRxiv preprint first posted online May. 26, 2016; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/055699.
Title：Report of Partial Findings from the National Toxicology Program Carcinogenesis Studies of Cell Phone Radiofrequency Radiation in Hsd: Sprague Dawley® SD rats (Whole Body Exposures). Draft 5-19-2016
URL：https://www.gezondheidsraad.nl/en/publications/gezonde-leefomgeving/mobile-phones-and-cancer-part-3-update-and-overall-conclusions （Last accessed 2016/06/02）
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JEIC has received the Public Review on this report from the Rapid Response Group (RRG＊).
The discussions and conclusions of their evaluation are as follows.
Discussions: This $25 million NTP study investigating the effects of RF whole-body exposure from two commonly-used cell or mobile phone signals on the development of cancer in rats and mice.
The NTP study used the highest possible RF exposures that could be tolerated by rats and mice, so that no significant temperature increase would occur in the animal’s body. However, exposures to these rodents are much higher than would occur to humans from base stations or cell phones. It is known that rodents thermo-regulate differently, depending on their size. At the highest RF exposures (6 W/kg) male rats would not tolerate this heating as well as female rats, and mice would handle the heating easily. Therefore, one cannot rule out the possibility that any effects found were due to lifetime thermoregulation-induced stress and not from any specific actions of the RF field.
Despite being the most expensive ever conducted by NTP, and one the best conducted animal experiments investigating the long-term carcinogenic potential of RF, the results are inconclusive, with serious limitations.
Conclusions: Given the significant concerns described above, the available data do not alter the balance of evidence on health effects in relation to human exposure to RF fields from cell phones. This means that the current international standards limiting RF exposure to workers and the public are still safe. As one of the designated reviewers of the Report states “I am unable to accept the authors’ conclusions” (Lauer, reviewer in Report page 37). This study provides no reason to change existing international standards limiting exposure to RF.
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For RRG’s Public Review, please see PDF file below.
Public review PDF
For further information, please see PDF file of RRG’s Scientific Review below
Scientific Review PDF
- * Rapid Response Group (RRG): The RRG provides a rapid response on the analysis of newly published scientific studies that JEIC considers important and in need of expert scientific review to provide information for all stakeholders. The RRG is composed of a coordinator and experts in all areas of science appropriate for reviewing and assessing scientific studies. Prof. M. H. Repacholi has served as the coordinator from the time of launch of RRG in 2010.