# Does EMF cause cancer?

> Not established. Both RF and ELF are IARC Group 2B on limited evidence; animal studies found rare tumours, and the 2024 WHO human review found no association.

- Canonical URL: https://emfbase.com/questions/does-emf-cause-cancer
- Collection: Direct answers
- Record id: `questions:does-emf-cause-cancer`
- Status: verified
- Last verified: 2026-08-12
- JSON: https://emfbase.com/api/questions/does-emf-cause-cancer
- Also known as: EMF cancer risk, does wifi cause cancer, 5G cancer

## Key values

- **Topic:** health

## Question

Is there evidence that EMF exposure causes cancer?

## Answer

Not established, and the evidence points in different directions depending on which field and which study you look at. IARC classifies both RF fields (2011) and ELF magnetic fields (2002) as Group 2B, 'possibly carcinogenic' — a statement about limited evidence, not about the size of any risk. The NTP and Ramazzini animal studies found rare heart tumours in male rats, while the 2024 WHO-commissioned systematic review of human studies found no association between mobile phone use and brain or head-and-neck cancers, including for long-term heavy users. This site lists each study with what it found and what it can and cannot establish, rather than resolving the dispute.

## Related records

- [IARC classification of radiofrequency fields as Group 2B (2011)](https://emfbase.com/studies/iarc-2011-rf-group-2b): IARC classified radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B) based on limited evidence for glioma and acoustic neuroma from heavy mobile phone use.
- [NTP rodent carcinogenicity studies of cell phone radiofrequency radiation (2018)](https://emfbase.com/studies/ntp-2018-cellphone-rfr): Two-year whole-body exposure studies found clear evidence of malignant schwannomas of the heart in male rats at exposure levels above the human whole-body limit, with no such finding in female rats or in mice.
- [WHO-commissioned systematic review of RF exposure and cancer in humans (2024)](https://emfbase.com/studies/who-rf-cancer-review-2024): A systematic review and meta-analysis of human observational studies found no association between mobile phone use and brain or head-and-neck cancers, including for long-term and heavy use.
- [IARC Group 2B](https://emfbase.com/glossary/group-2b): 'Possibly carcinogenic to humans' — a statement about how strong the evidence is, not about how large any risk is.

## Sources

- `iarc-2b-rf` International Agency for Research on Cancer (2011). *IARC classifies radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B), Press Release N° 208*. https://www.iarc.who.int/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/pr208_E.pdf — government, link checked 2026-08-12
- `iarc-monograph-80` International Agency for Research on Cancer (2002). *IARC Monographs Volume 80: Non-Ionizing Radiation, Part 1: Static and Extremely Low-Frequency Electric and Magnetic Fields*. https://publications.iarc.who.int/98 — peer-reviewed, link checked 2026-08-12
- `ntp-cellphone` National Toxicology Program, U.S. NIEHS. *Cell Phone Radiofrequency Radiation Studies*. https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/whatwestudy/topics/cellphones — government, link checked 2026-08-12
- `who-rf-review-2024` Environment International (WHO-commissioned systematic review) (2024). *The effect of exposure to radiofrequency fields on cancer risk in the general and working population: a systematic review of human observational studies*. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412024005531 — peer-reviewed, link checked 2026-08-12

Data licence: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Dataset version 2026.08.1. Retrieved from EMFBase, https://emfbase.com.

This record is reference data, not medical or legal advice. Regulatory limits, scientific guidelines and precautionary values are labelled separately and answer different questions.