Press announcements and reports on medical and biological studies

In the ten years that have elapsed since FY1997, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' Committee to Promote Research on the Possible Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields has been promoting research to investigate the safety of radio frequency radiation exposure on the living body through animal experiments, epidemiological surveys, etc. A report on the findings was compiled in April 2007. A part of the report is summarized and shown below.

Views on the safety of radio waves

1. Japan and various other countries have accumulated results of research on the effects of radio waves on the human body which have been conducted during more than 50 years. Based on these huge amounts of scientific knowledge and information, radio frequency radiation protection guidelines have been formulated in which a sufficient margin of safety has been incorporated into the threshold value of the health effects of radio wave exposure on the human body.
2. Due to rising the number of users of mobile phones in recent years, there are growing concerns on the part of the public about the effects of radio waves on health. However, domestic and international institutions specializing in this field agree that there is no established evidence to show that exposure to radio waves at intensities below the radio frequency radiation protection guidelines has adverse effects on health.
3. On the other hand, some studies have reported on the possibility of low-level radio waves below the radio frequency safety guidelines having effects on the human body. These studies, however, have also been criticized as being flawed, in that the conditions under which these experiments were carried out were not necessarily appropriate. These research findings should inherently be handled as data for safety evaluations after having their repeatability and other factors confirmed. Unfortunately, accurate information has not necessarily been provided in sufficient amounts, inviting vague uneasiness among the general public as a result.
4. The Committee to Promote Research on the Possible Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields has been carrying out research in a fair and neutral fashion while collaborating with the WHO's international electromagnetic field projects, and under close cooperation with medical and biological specialists as well as engineering specialists who conduct highly precise exposure evaluations. The results of the Committee's past ten-year studies have shown that radio waves emitted from mobile phone base stations and mobile phones have no adverse effects on the human body. Moreover, regarding past findings that reportedly cited adverse effects, we have conducted experiments with improved biological, medical and engineering techniques and found no such effects to exist.
5. Therefore, the Committee feels that currently, there is no established evidence to show that radio waves, at intensities that do not exceed the radio frequency radiation protection guidelines, exert adverse effects on health, including non-thermal effects.

Results of studies on the safety of radio waves conducted by the Committee to Promote Research on the Possible Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields

• Results of an epidemiological survey on the relationship between mobile phone use and acoustic neurilemmoma (released February 21, 2007)
• Radio waves used by mobile phones were confirmed to have no influence on the intracerebral synthesis of melatonin, a hormone that induces sleep (December 14, 2005)
• Radio waves used by mobile phones were confirmed to have no influence on the dynamics of cerebral microcirculation (released December 12, 2003)
• Long-term use of mobile phones was confirmed to have no influence on the incidence of cerebral tumors (released October 10, 2003)
• Radio waves used by mobile phones were confirmed to have no influence on human ability for learning and tackling tasks (released November 12, 2002)
• Interim report by the Committee to Promote Research on the Possible Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields (released January 30, 2001)
• The brain (blood-brain barrier) is not damaged by radio waves if the intensity is at levels that do not cause thermal effects (released September 2, 1999)
• The brain (blood-brain barrier) is not damaged by acute exposure to mobile-phone signals (released September 29, 1998)
• Holding of a meeting of the Committee to Promote Research on the Possible Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields (released October 9, 1997)