Cell Phones
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Because Americans adults spend an average of just over three hours per day on their mobile devices, the false idea that cell phones cause cancer is almost certainly the scariest and most widely reported of all cancer myths.
It is true that mobile devices emit radio waves, and that radio waves are a form of radiation. It’s also true that human tissue nearest to your phone can absorb this radiation. But the crucial thing people forget or decline to mention is that there are two different kinds of radiation: ionizing, which can cause cancer, and non-ionizing, which cannot. Cell phone radiation is non-ionizing.
There are plenty more specifics one could delve into, but the basic truth — that the type of radiation emitted by cell phones has not been shown to cause cancer — is truly that simple. Both case-control studies (comparing an experimental group with a control group) and cohort studies (tracking one group of people over a long period of time) have repeatedly not found a proven link between cell phone use and cancer.
That said, there are a number of other health concerns surrounding cell phone use, and all authorities on the subject will tell you that more study is needed. But still, everyone from the CDC to the FDA and beyond will tell you that current research does not support a causal link between cell phones and cancer development.
