Cellphone radiation has been linked to cancer in a new study of lab rats conducted by the National Toxicology Program.
Researchers found low incidences of two types of tumors — malignant gliomas in the brain and schwannomas of the heart — linked to radiofrequency radiation common with cellphones,
according to the report released Thursday by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
“Where people were saying there’s no risk, I think this ends that kind of statement,” Ron Melnick, who ran the NTP project until
retiring in 2009, told The Wall Street Journal.
The study involved more than 2,500 rats and mice tested in an underground lab, the newspaper noted.
The preliminary study is under further review and it is unclear what the effects of it will be on the longstanding debate between those who contend that evidence has shown that cellphones pose no risks to human health and those who have said more
research is needed, according to Consumer Reports.
The debate has led the International Agency for Research on Cancer to classify cellphone radiation as a possible carcinogen while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention deleted cautionary advice from its cellphone fact sheet in 2014, Consumer Reports said.
"The results of this large, long-term study could dramatically shift the national debate over cell phone safety," Consumer Reports said.
“This is by far — far and away — the most carefully done cellphone bioassay, a biological assessment," Christopher Portier, a
retired head of NTP, told Scientific American. "This is a classic study that is done for trying to understand cancers in humans. There will have to be a lot of work after this to assess if it causes problems in humans, but the fact that you can do it in rats will be a big issue. It actually has me concerned, and I’m an expert.”
Twitter users seemed alarmed by the study results.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.