Radio waves have been used for more than 100 years in various sorts of applications. Already in the late 1800s the French scientist D'Arsonval studied physiological effects of radio frequency (RF) fields. Given the long use of radio waves, there have in fact been thousands of studies investigating the possible health effects of RF fields. From this extensive corpus of research, every established effect has been related to the well-known heating effects of radio waves. At very high RF exposure, the heating of body tissues can be significant, which ultimately might have adverse effects on health. Considerable research has been conducted on possible non-thermal health effects. No such effects have been established.

Several hundred studies using mobile phone signals specifically are listed in the research database on the World Health Organizations's (WHO) website. The great majority of these studies has not indicated any adverse health effects linked to mobile telephony. Several expert groups and health authorities have reviewed all available research and the WHO, for example, summarizes the current status as follows:

 

"None of the recent reviews have concluded that exposure to RF fields from mobile phones or their base stations causes any adverse health consequence."