National Toxicology Program: Peer & public review of cell phone radiation study reports

More Information: 
National Toxicology Program (NTP) Finds Cell Phone Radiation Causes Cancer

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Experts Find "Clear Evidence" of Cancer from Cell Phone Radiation in NTP Study

March 28, 2018 (Last updated April 10)

Eleven experts convened by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) over a three day period to review the draft technical reports from the NTP's cell phone radiation studies concluded that there is "clear evidence" that exposure to cell phone radiation caused a rare cancer in the hearts of male rats, and "there is equivocal evidence" in the hearts of female rats.

The expert panel also reported "some evidence" that cell phone radiation exposure caused brain cancer in male and female rats and cancer of the adrenal glands in male rats. 

Additionally, "equivocal evidence" of cancer risk was reported in the pituitary, adrenal, and prostate glands and pancreas and liver in male rats and adrenal glands in female rats.

The mice in the study, exposed to a different cell phone radiation frequency than the rats (1800 MHz vs. 900 MHz), displayed less evidence of cancer risk. Equivocal evidence of cancer risk from cell phone radiation was reported for lymphoma in male and female mice. Equivocal evidence was also reported for skin, lung, and liver cancer in male mice.

In seven instances, the expert group upgraded the evaluations of evidence published by NTP staff in the draft technical reports. Thus, the NTP scientists appear to have been overly conservative in their assessment of the hazards of long-term exposure to cell phone radiation. According to a former NTP scientist, "There was never a time when so many upgrades were recommended."

The following table based upon NTP's official summary of actions compares the evaluations of evidence of carcinogenicity prepared by NTP staff with the expert committee's findings. The two-page document which also contains the committee's findings for nonneoplastic lesions can be be downloaded from http://bit.ly/NTP180330. 

The presentations and oral public comments are available at the following link: http://bit.ly/2qmvtQg.

Definitions

Clear Evidence of Carcinogenic Activity is demonstrated by studies that are interpreted as showing a dose-related (i) increase of malignant neoplasms, (ii) increase of a combination of malignant and benign neoplasms, or (iii) marked increase of benign neoplasms if there is an indication from this or other studies of the ability of such tumors to progress to malignancy.

Some Evidence of Carcinogenic Activity is demonstrated by studies that are interpreted as showing a chemical-related increased incidence of neoplasms (malignant, benign, or combined) in which the strength of the response is less than that required for clear evidence.

Equivocal Evidence of Carcinogenic Activity is demonstrated by studies that are interpreted as showing a marginal increase of neoplasms that may be chemically related.

No Evidence of Carcinogenic Activity is demonstrated by studies that are interpreted as showing no chemical-related increases in malignant or benign neoplasms.
https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/results/pubs/longterm/defs/index.html 

Note: Although the definitions typically are applied to chemical agents, NTP also uses them with physical agents like cell phone radiation.

PDF of document also includes nonneoplastic results & definitions: http://bit.ly/NTP180330

March 16, 2018 (Updated March 25)

To view webcast of NTP review meeting on March 26-28 from 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM EDT: 
https://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/webcasts/cellphones_032618/

The National Toxicology Program (NTP) requested public comments about the two draft NTP Technical Reports on Cell Phone Radiofrequency Radiation. Due to a lag between when comments were submitted and posted to the NTP website, below are links to selected comments from scientists and environmental health organizations about the reports.

Public Comments: Scientists

George Carlo, PhD, The Science and Public Policy Institute

C.K. Chou, PhD, CK Chou Consulting

Lennart Hardell, MD, PhD, Michael Carlberg, MSc, University Hospital, Örebro, Sweden; Lena Hedendahl, MD, The Environment and Cancer Research Foundation

Magda Havas, PhD, Trent University 

Ronald Kostoff, PhD

Ronald Melnick, PhD, Retired Senior Toxicologist, National Toxicology Program

Joel Moskowitz, PhD, University of California, Berkeley

Cindy Russell, MD, Physicians for Safe Technology

Annie J. Sasco, MD, DrPH, SM, MPH, retired Director of Research,INSERM (French NIH); former Unit Chief, IARC-WHO

Public Comments: Organizations

Association Alerte Phonegate (Dr. Marc Arazi)

EMF Research Committee, Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science (KIEES), South Korea

Environmental Health Trust

Environmental Working Group

More Information

Upcoming Peer Reviews of Draft NTP Technical Reports

National Toxicology Program Finds Cell Phone Radiation Causes Cancer
Brief History of NTP Cell Phone Radiation Studies and Comments on Reports
Ramazzini Institute Cell Phone Radiation Study Replicates NTP Study

Peer Review

The members of the two peer review committees for the NTP meeting have been announced.

David Eaton, PhD, University of Washington, Chair

Technical Panel 1: Reverberation Chamber Exposure System: Assess the reverberation chamber technology for evaluating the effects of cell phone radiofrequency radiation exposure in rats and mice.

Members:
Frank Barnes, PhD, University of Colorado Boulder
Asimini Kiourti, PhD, Ohio State University
James Lin, PhD, University of Illinois at Chicago

Technical Panel 2: NTP Findings in Rats and Mice: (1) Review and evaluate the scientific and technical elements of the study and its presentation; (2) Determine whether the study’s experimental design, conduct, and findings support the NTP’s conclusions regarding the carcinogenic activity and toxicity of the test agent.

Members:
Rick Adler, DVM, PhD, DACVP, Glaxo Smith Kline
Lydia Andrews-Jones, DVM, PhD, DACVP, Allergan, Inc,
J. Mark Cline, DVM, PhD, DACVP, Wake Forest School of Medicine
George Corcoran, PhD, ATS, Wayne State University
Susan Felter, PhD, Proctor & Gamble
Jack Harkema, DVM, PhD, DACVP, Michigan State University
Wolfgang Kaufmann, DVM, PhD, DECVP, Fellow IATP, Merck (retired)
Tyler Malys, PhD, National Cancer Institute
Kamala Pant, MS, BioReliance
Matthias Rinke, DVM, PhD, FTA Pathology, CVP, Fellow IATP, Bayer Pharma (retired)
Laurence Whiteley, DVM, PhD, DACVP, Pfizer 

Jan 29, 2018 (Updated Jan 31, 2018)

The following information was excerpted from the Federal Register.

On January 29, 2018, the National Toxicology Program (NTP) announced a meeting to peer review two draft NTP Technical Reports on Cell Phone Radiofrequency Radiation. These reports present the results of NTP studies conducted to evaluate the impact of cell phone radiofrequency radiation exposure in mice and rats.

The peer-review meeting will be held at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) in Research Triangle Park, NC and is open to the public. Registration is requested for attendance at the meeting either in-person or by webcast and to present oral comments. Information about the meeting and registration will be available at https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/​go/​36051.

Meeting

Tentatively scheduled for March 26, 2018, 8:30 a.m. to adjournment on March 28, 2018, at approximately 5:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The preliminary agenda will be available at https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/​go/​36051 and will be updated one week before the meeting.

Document Availability

The NTP will post the two draft technical reports at 12 noon (Eastern Standard Time) on Friday, February 2 on the NTP web site: https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/​go/​36051.

Deadlines

Written Public Comment Submissions: March 12, 2018

Registration for Oral Comments: March 12, 2018

Registration to Attend Meeting In-person: March 28, 2018

Registration to View Webcast: March 28, 2018

Background

Personal (cellular) telecommunications is a rapidly evolving technology that uses radiofrequency energy or radiation for mobile communication. According to a 2016 survey, 95 percent of American adults now use cell phones. Given such broad use, adverse health effects shown to be associated with cell phone use could be a widespread public health concern.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) nominated cell phone radiofrequency radiation for NTP study because (a) widespread human exposure is possible, (b) current exposure guidelines are based largely on protection from acute injury due to thermal effects, (c) little is known about the potential health effects of long-term exposure to radiofrequency radiation, and (d) currently available human studies have found limited evidence of an increased risk of cancer from cell phone use.

NTP studied in rats and mice the effects of exposure to cell phone radiofrequency radiation from two system modulations: Global System for Mobile Communications and Code Division Multiple Access. NTP released the “Report of Partial Findings from the National Toxicology Program Carcinogenesis Studies of Cell Phone Radiofrequency Radiation in Hsd: Sprague Dawley SD Rats (Whole Body Exposure)” in May 2016 (https://doi.org/​10.1101/​055699). The partial findings will be included in the draft NTP technical report for rats. The two draft NTP technical reports present results for all NTP studies on rats and mice on the toxicity and carcinogenicity of cell phone-emitted radiofrequency radiation.

Public Comment Registration

NTP invites written and oral public comments on the draft NTP technical reports: Guidelines for Public Comments.

The deadline for submission of written comments is March 12, 2018. Written public comments should be submitted through the meeting website. Persons submitting written comments should include name, affiliation, mailing address, phone, email, and sponsoring organization (if any). Written comments received in response to this notice will be posted on the NTP website, and the submitter will be identified by name, affiliation, and sponsoring organization (if any). Comments that address scientific or technical issues will be forwarded to the peer-review panel and NTP staff prior to the meeting.

Registration to provide oral comments is on or before March 12, 2018, at https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/​go/​36051. Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis, and registrants will be assigned a number in their confirmation email. Oral comments may be presented in person at NIEHS or by teleconference line. The access number for the teleconference line will be provided to registrants by email prior to the meeting. Each organization is allowed one time slot per comment period. The agenda allows for two public comment periods: The first comment period on the exposure system (12 commenters, up to 5 minutes per speaker), and the second comment period on the NTP findings in rats and mice (24 commenters, up to 5 minutes per speaker). After the maximum number of speakers per comment period is exceeded, individuals registered to provide oral comment will be placed on a wait list and notified should an opening become available. Commenters will be notified after March 12, 2018, the deadline to register for oral public comments, about the actual time allotted per speaker.

If possible, oral public commenters should send a copy of their slides and/or statement or talking points to Canden Byrd by email: NTP-Meetings@icf.com by March 12, 2018.

Background Information on NTP Peer-Review Panels

NTP panels are technical, scientific advisory bodies to provide independent scientific peer review. These panels help ensure transparent, unbiased, and scientifically rigorous input to the program. Scientists interested in serving on an NTP panel should provide their current curriculum vitae to Canden Byrd by email: NTP-Meetings@icf.com.

More information about the meeting

http://bit.ly/FedRegNTP

https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/​go/​36051

Information about NTP Partial Report of Findings

http://bit.ly/NTPpartreport