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WHO 1 Electromagnetic fields and public health: mobile phones <br />Media centre <br />Electromagnetic fields and public health: <br />mobile phones <br />Fact sheet N °193 <br />June 2011 <br />Key facts <br />• Mobile phone use is ubiquitous with an estimated 4.6 billion <br />subscriptions globally. <br />• The electromagnetic fields produced by mobile phones are classified by <br />the International Agency for Research on Cancer as possibly <br />carcinogenic to humans. <br />• Studies are ongoing to more fully assess potential long -term effects of <br />mobile phone use. <br />• WHO will conduct a formal risk assessment of all studied health <br />outcomes from radiofrequency fields exposure by 2012. <br />Mobile or cellular phones are now an integral part of modern <br />telecommunications. In many countries, over half the population use mobile <br />phones and the market is growing rapidly. At the end of 2009, there were <br />an estimated 4.6 billion subscriptions globally. In some parts of the world, <br />mobile phones are the most reliable or the only phones available. <br />Given the large number of mobile phone users, it is important to <br />investigate, understand and monitor any potential public health impact. <br />Mobile phones communicate by transmitting radio waves through a network <br />of fixed antennas called base stations. Radiofrequency waves are <br />electromagnetic fields, and unlike ionizing radiation such as X -rays or <br />gamma rays, can neither break chemical bonds nor cause ionization in the <br />human body. <br />Exposure levels <br />Mobile phones are low- powered radiofrequency transmitters, operating at <br />frequencies between 450 and 2700 MHz with peak powers in the range of <br />0.1 to 2 watts. The handset only transmits power when it is turned on. The <br />power (and hence the radiofrequency exposure to a user) falls off rapidly <br />with increasing distance from the handset. A person using a mobile phone <br />30-40 cm away from their body - for example when text messaging, <br />Page 1 of 4 <br />Share Print <br />For more information contact: <br />WHO Media centre <br />Telephone: +41 22 791 2222 <br />E-mail: mediainquiries @who.int <br />Related link <br />Interphone study on mobile phone use <br />and brain cancer risk <br />The International Electromagnetic <br />Fields Project <br />Electromagnetic fields and public <br />health: base stations and wireless <br />technologies <br />Electromagnetic fields and public <br />health: electromagnetic <br />hypersensitivity <br />WHO research agenda for <br />electromagnetic fields <br />http: / /www. who. int/ mediacentre /factsheets /fs193 /en/ 2/3/2012 <br />7 <br />