Tuesday, September 1, 2026

Overview of Contents

Joel M. Moskowitz, Ph.D., School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley

For regular updates about electromagnetic radiation safety follow me on 
Twitter @berkeleyprc, Facebook or LinkedIn.


General

Welcome to EMR Safety

Featured News Stories

Overview of Past Articles

"Harmful Wireless Radiation" (Joel Moskowitz, Green Sense Radio podcast, July 2025) 

"Health Hazards of Wireless Technologies: What do we know now?" (Joel Moskowitz, Collaborative on Health & Environment webinar / video & slides, Sep. 2024)

"Radiofrequency Radiation and Your Health: Is 5G Harmful?" (Joel Moskowitz, Federal Mobility Group webinar / video & slides, 2023)

"Health Effects of Cellphone & Cell Tower Radiation: Implications for 5G" (Joel Moskowitz, University of California Center for Occupational & Environmental Health webinar / video & slides, 2021)

International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields (ICBE-EMF)


"Cellphone radiation is harmful, but few want to believe it" (Joel Moskowitz, UC Berkeley News, 2021)

Mobilize: A Film About Cell Phone Radiation (documentary video)

Wireless Radiation TV News Coverage (300+ TV news videos)

Overview Articles


Mobile Phone Health Effects

Key Cell Phone Radiation Research Studies
Recent Research on Wireless Radiation and Electromagnetic Fields (2016 on)

Cancer or Tumor Risk

          Animal Studies

NTP Cellphone Carcinogenicity Study: Followup Studies
NIEHS Cell Phone Radiation Studies
NTP Cell Phone Radiation Study: Final Reports
NTP: Not the First Govt. Study to Find Wireless Radiation Can Cause Cancer in Lab Rats
Ramazzini Institute Cell Phone Radiation Study Replicates NTP Study

         Head and Neck Tumor Risk
Expert report by former U.S. govt. official: High probability RF radiation causes brain tumors
Cell phone and cordless phone use causes brain cancer: New review
WHO Monograph on Cancer Risk from Mobile Phone Use
Storyline vs. Rest-of-the-story: Brain cancer incidence, cellphone use & trends data
Acoustic Neuroma and Cell Phone Use
Thyroid Cancer and Mobile Phone Use
Cell Phone Use and Salivary Gland Tumor Risk
MOBI-KIDS: Childhood Brain Tumor Risk & Mobile Phone Use Study
The UK Million Women Study of Cell Phone Use and Brain Tumor Risk
      
        Brain Tumor Incidence
Brain Tumor Rates Are Rising in the US: The Role of Cellphone & Cordless Phone Use
Trends in Brain Tumor Incidence Outside the U.S.
The Incidence of Meningioma, a Non-Malignant Brain Tumor, is Increasing in the U.S.


Reproductive Harm

Effect of Mobile Phones on Sperm Quality
Pregnancy & Wireless Radiation Risks
Female Infertility & Cell Phone Radiation


Other Health Risks

Research on Wireless Radiation Exposure to the Immune System
Does long-term exposure to 4G LTE cell phone radiation impair cell phone users' health?
Effects of Cell Phone Use on Adolescents
Research on Smart Phone and Internet Addiction


Does Cell Phone and Wi-Fi Radiation Cause Alzheimer's Disease?
Cellphone use may be harmful for people with dental braces


Cell Phone and Wireless Radiation

Wireless Radiation Exposure Limits
International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields (ICBE-EMF)
Study: Wireless radiation exposure for children should be hundreds of times lower than federal limits (based on NTP study)
What's Wrong with Cell Phone Radiation Exposure Limits? (SAR)
Children are more exposed to cell phone radio-frequency radiation than adults


Wireless Radiation Health Risks



Power Line Frequencies (Extremely Low Frequency Fields)


Wireless Radiation Research, Guidelines & Regulatory Policies

American Academy of Pediatrics
American Academy of Pediatrics: Protect Children from Cell Phone & Wireless Radiation

American Cancer Society
American Cancer Society: Cell Phone Radiation Risk

 Berkeley Model Cell Phone Ordinance
Berkeley Cell Phone "Right to Know" Ordinance
California Public Health Department
Cell Phone Safety Guidance from the California Public Health Department
California's Cell Phone Safety Guidance: Media Coverage

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
New York Times’ Exposé of CDC’s Retraction of Warnings about Cell Phone Radiation

 Federal Communications Commission
How the FCC Shields Cellphone Companies from Safety Concerns (ProPublica)
"Environmental Procedures at the FCC: A Case Study in Corporate Capture" by a former FCC attorney
An Exposé of the FCC: An Agency Captured by the Industries it Regulates

Government Accountability Office (GAO)
GAO 2012 Mobile Phone Report to the Congress
Government Accountability Office (GAO) 2020 Report on 5G

 Industry Influence
IEEE Committee on Man and Radiation (COMAR)
Industry-funded Scientists Undermine Cell Phone Radiation Science
Government Failure to Address Wireless Radiation Risks
Cell Phone Industry Product Liability Lawsuit

International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields
International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields (ICBE-EMF)
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Welcome to EMR Safety

The Electromagnetic Radiation Safety web site has addressed key scientific and policy developments concerning the health risks from exposure to electromagnetic radiation (EMR) and other non-ionizing electromagnetic fields (EMF) since 2013.

This website is curated by Joel M. Moskowitz, Ph.D., School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley. To avoid conflicts of interest, I do not promote or endorse any products. Moreover, I have little confidence in most manufacturers' product safety claims even by manufacturers who report independent laboratory test results for their products.


Any use of my name, image, webinars, or website in marketing products is unauthorized and misleading. For more information see Buyer Beware: Cell Phone Radiation-Reducing Products.

With over 250 posts, Saferemr.com provides a curated collection of links to articles about the health risks associated with cell phones, cell towers, 2G thru 5G, Wi-Fi, Smart Meters, electric and hybrid cars, and other wireless devices. 

I also report on the manufacturing of doubt about the science by industry-linked scientists and organizations and by government agencies and their support for the inadequate EMF exposure guidelines recommended by the IEEE, ICNIRP, and the FCC.

Key Posts
This web site has had more than 5 million page views by visitors from over 200 countries which attests to global concern about the impact of wireless radiation on our health and on the environment.


EMR Safety reached one million page views on April 7, 2017, two million page views on March 11, 2019, three million page views on July 14, 2021, four million page views on February 22, 2024, five million pages on November 12, 2025, and 5.5 million pages on June 11, 2026.
More than half (56%) of visitors were from outside the United States with Canada, United Kingdom, France, India, Germany, China, Hong Kong, Russia, and Australia represented the most.



For visitors new to this website or this topic, see the overviews about why we are concerned about cell phones, cell towers, and other wireless devices:

"Cellphone radiation is harmful, but few want to believe it"
(Interview with Joel Moskowitz, UC Berkeley News, July 1, 2021)


"Health Hazards of Wireless Technologies: What do we know now?" (Joel Moskowitz, Collaborative on Health & Environment webinar / video & slides, 2024)


To explore specific topics, click on "Overview of Contents," located on the right hand side of the page.  Articles are listed by topic. Find the article of interest and click on the link.

You can also look up articles by the month and year they were last updated in the archive, which is located in the right-hand column. Click on the month and a list of articles posted that month will appear. Then click on the article’s title, and it will take you to the post of interest.

Each month I update a summary of peer-reviewed research on health risks associated with wireless radiation including the cancer risk, reproductive harm and neurological disorders. The complete collection of abstracts which contains more than 2,000 scientific papers since 2016 can be downloaded as pdf files.

Finally, you can find topics of interest by using the Search Box at the upper left hand side of the page: 

The most popular posts address 5G radiation, cellphones and health, the role of cell phones in increasing cancer or tumor incidence, and EMF in hybrid and electric automobiles.

 For regular updates about electromagnetic radiation safety follow me on LinkedIn, X (@berkeleyprc) or Facebook.

Joel M. Moskowitz, Ph.D.
School of Public Health
University of California, Berkeley

E-Mail: jmm@berkeley.edu

Overview of Contents

 Overview Articles

Tips to Reduce Your Wireless Radiation Exposure

International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields

International Scientist Appeal on Electromagnetic Fields & Wireless Technology  (250+ EMF scientists petition for warnings & stronger regulation)

Mobilize, a Film about Cell Phone Radiation  -- Award-winning documentary

Recent News Stories

News Releases

Radio Interviews (and Podcasts)

Presentations

Supplemental Information:
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Tuesday, August 25, 2026

Effects of Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields: Thirty years of research

The preponderance of peer-reviewed research published since 1990 has found significant adverse effects from exposure to radio frequency radiation and extremely low frequency and static electromagnetic fields. 

Dr. Henry Lai, Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington, Editor Emeritus of the journal, Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine, and an emeritus member of the International Commission on the Biological Effects of EMF, has compiled summaries of the research on the biological effects of exposure to radio frequency (RFR) and extremely low frequency (ELF) and static electromagnetic fields (EMF). His set of abstracts which covers the period from 1990 through May 2026 constitutes a comprehensive collection of the peer-reviewed publications of  in vivo and in vitro research.

Dr. Lai reports that the preponderance of research has found that exposure to RFR or ELF EMF produces oxidative effects or free radicals, and damages DNA. Moreover the preponderance of studies that examined genetic, neurological and reproductive outcomes has found significant effects. Among hundreds of studies of RFR, 72% to 89% reported significant effects. Among hundreds of studies of ELF and static fields, 78% to 90% reported significant effects.

According to Dr. Lai, 260 low-intensity (SAR < 0.40 W/kg) radiofrequency radiation (RFR) exposure studies published since 1990 reported significant effects: "This means that biological systems are very sensitive to RFR. Moreover, it is clear that the current RFR exposure guidelines do not prevent the detrimental health effects of RFR."

The entire collection contains abstracts for more than 3,000 published papers. The abstracts can be downloaded by clicking on the links below.
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Although 89% of 438 peer-reviewed papers published since 1997 found statistically significant evidence of oxidative effects from RFR exposure; a recent WHO systematic review which examined only 52 studies erroneously concluded, "The evidence for or against a relation between RF-EMF and biomarkers of oxidative stress is overall of very low certainty.(Meyer et al., 2024).
.
In contrast, a recent WHO systematic review of animal carcinogenicity studies concluded with "high certainty" that chronic exposure to RFR causes cancer in the brain and in the heart (Mevissen et al., 2025) and another WHO review concluded with "high certainty" that it causes infertility (Cordelli et al., 2024). 

In 2011, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization classified radio frequency radiation “possibly carcinogenic to humans” (Group 2B). The IARC had planned to review RFR again by 2024 because most peer-reviewed studies published in the past decade found significant evidence that RFR causes genotoxicity; however, this review has been postponed. If IARC were to convene EMF experts with no conflicts of interest (including no present or past associations with ICNIRP), RFR is likely to be re-classified to either "probably carcinogenic to humans" (Group 2A) or "carcinogenic to humans" (Group 1). 

Cell phones and other wireless devices also produce static and extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic fields. ELF was classified by the IARC as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” (Group 2B) a decade before RFR received this classification.



Summary of Results (Last major update: June 8, 2026)

Radiofrequency radiation (RFR)

89% (n=390) of 438 RFR oxidative effects (or free radical) papers published since 1997 reported significant effects including 96% (n=110) of 114 studies with a SAR (specific absorption rate) ≤ 0.40 watts per kilogram (which is ten times less than the 4.0 W/kg threshold of harm that the FCC and the ICNIRP use to base their RFR exposure limits).

72% (n=396) of 550 RFR genetic effects papers published since 1990 reported significant effects including 192 (84%) of 228 studies of gene expression.

78% (n=396) of 507 RFR neurological papers published since 2007 reported significant effects.

85% (n=354) of 415 RFR reproduction and development papers published since 1990 reported significant effects. Among the low-intensity exposure studies that reported significant effects, 73 studies used an exposure with a SAR ≤ 0.40 W/kg and 53 studies had a SAR ≤ 0.08 W/kg.

260 low-intensity RFR exposure studies (SAR < 0.40 W/kg) published since 1990 reported significant effects.


Extremely low frequency (ELF) and static electromagnetic fields

90% (n=319) of 353 ELF/static EMF oxidative effects (or free radical) papers published since 1990 reported significant effects.

84% (n=363) of 424 ELF/static EMF genetic effects papers published since 1990 reported significant effects including 92% (n=232) of 252 studies of gene expression.

92% (n=364) of 397 ELF/static EMF neurological papers published since 2007 reported significant effects.

78% (n=82) of 105 ELF/static EMF reproduction and development papers published since 1990 reported significant effects. 



Links to download each set of abstracts

   RFR = radio frequency electromagnetic fields
   ELF = extremely low frequency or static electromagnetic fields


RFR Oxidative Effects studies

RFR Genetic Effects studies

    RFR Gene Expression studies

RFR Neurological Effects studies

RFR Reproduction / Development studies

Studies of biological effects in animals & plants exposed to low intensity RFR (SAR < 0.4 W/kg)


ELF Oxidative Effects studies

ELF Genetic Effects studies

    ELF Gene Expression studies

ELF Neurological Effects studies

ELF Reproduction studies



Intermediate Frequency studies (300 Hz – 1 MHz)


--

Feb 4, 2023 (Updated October 4, 2024)

Effects of Radio Frequency Radiation Exposure on Free Radical-Related Cellular Processes (332 studies)

Dr. Henry Lai, Professor Emeritus, Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington

This document contains abstracts for 383 studies published since 1997 that assessed the effects of radiofrequency radiation (RFR) exposure on free radical-related cellular processes.

See pages 215-250 for a table that summarizes key details about each study.

Summary

1. Of the 383 studies published from 1997- October 2024, 340 (89%) studies reported significant effects; 43 (11%) studies found no significant effects.

2. Change in cellular free radical status is a consistent effect of radiofrequency radiation.

3. Effects can occur at low specific absorption rates (SAR) (<0.4 W/kg) of exposure. See 98 studies marked LI for low intensity, 94 (96%) low intensity studies found effects.

4. Effects have been reported at different frequencies, exposure duration, and modulations, and in many different biological systems, cell lines, and animal species. These data support the assertion that “Radiofrequency radiation affects cellular free radical processes.”

5. Most of the studies are live animal (in vivo) studies with long-term exposure, e.g., daily exposure up to months.

6. Some studies used mobile phones or RFR-emitting devices for exposure (see Table, pp. 215-250). The SAR and characteristics of RFR in these studies are not well defined. However, these studies should not be overlooked because they represent real-life exposure scenarios. Waveform modulations of radiofrequency radiation during wireless communication usage probably play an important role in biological effects. They are not revealed in studies that used a simple form of radiation (e.g., continuous-wave or GSM) and spatially uniform fields. Researchers in bioelectromagnetics should realize that the perfect RFR exposure system simulating real life exposures simply does not exist.

Click on the following link to download the 250-page document (pdf): Link









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