WHO position on electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS)
WHO recognises that people report real and sometimes disabling symptoms they attribute to EMF, while provocation studies have not shown that participants can detect field presence or that symptoms track actual exposure.
Last verified 12 August 2026.
- Authors
- World Health Organization
- Year
- 2005
- Design
- systematic review
- Exposure studied
- Self-reported sensitivity to a range of EMF sources
- Place in the evidence base
- contested
- Primary document
- https://www.who.int/teams/environment-climate-change-and-health/radiation-and-health/non-ionizing/hypersensitivity
Finding
Symptoms are genuine and can be severe, but blinded provocation studies do not support EMF exposure as their cause; WHO describes the condition as idiopathic environmental intolerance and recommends clinical evaluation of the symptoms themselves.
What it cannot establish
Provocation studies vary widely in design, exposure characterisation, and participant selection, and a physiological mechanism has neither been demonstrated nor ruled out. This record describes the WHO position; it is not medical advice and does not dismiss individual experience.
Related records
- EUROPAEM 2016 night-time target value for WLAN and similar pulsed sources
10 µW/m² at night for GPRS, DAB+ and WLAN-type sources, 100 µW/m² daytime, 0.1 µW/m² for sensitive individuals.
Exposure limits
- Is EMF sensitivity (EHS) real?
Symptoms are recognised as genuine; blinded studies have not linked them to field exposure. WHO recommends evaluating the symptoms clinically.
Direct answers
Sources
- who-ehs Electromagnetic hypersensitivity (WHO backgrounder, December 2005; formerly Fact sheet 296) — World Health Organization, 2005. government, link checked 2026-08-12.
Same record, other formats