What Recent Headlines Mean When They Call 5G "Safe": Environmental Health Trust Responds

EHT Responds: What Recent Headlines Mean When They Call 5G “Safe”
Environmental Health Trust, May 22, 2025

On the same day that EHT shared news about a new World Health Organization-backed study finding evidence linking cell phone radiation to cancer, some popular science publications shared news about a different study, which is said to prove that there is no danger associated with 5G exposure. That study, published in PNAS Nexus, was written about by Popular Science, Cosmos, and others. As tempting as it is to accept good news like this at face value, especially as a headline in a reputable news source, the headlines unfortunately do not tell the whole story. EHT feels compelled to respond and clarify the findings of this recent study.

To start, the study in question is far more narrow than popular headlines imply. The scientists specifically performed their study on two types of skin cells, keratinocytes and fibroblasts. Other types of skin cells, melanocytes and immune cells, can also be impacted by radiation, and cancers originating from these cell types can result in more severe, potentially fatal disease. The incidence of melanoma and cutaneous T–cell lymphoma are both increasing, and research is needed to determine whether or not the increasing frequencies of radiation associated with 5G may be contributing to this increase.

In addition, the peer-reviewed study recently released by EHT scientists demonstrates the impact cell phone radiation can potentially have on red blood cells, which also come within 1mm of the body’s surface.

“Another significant limitation of this study is that the investigators only studied the cells after 48 hours of exposure,” says Dr. Robert Brown, VP of Scientific Research and Clinical Affairs at EHT. “Expose the cells for two months and then have a look and see if there are any changes in DNA. The absence of acute effects from short exposure times does not provide any information on chronic health effects from long-term exposure.”

Finally, the presumption that 5G radiation only penetrates 1mm and therefore would only impact cells at that depth is misleading. “5G” is complex and comprised of low, middle, and high frequency bands, comprising a wide swath of spectrum, and each with differing depths of penetration. This study tested only two of those frequencies, both in the high frequency band.

The conclusion of the new study is that, under the controls employed in this in vitro study (notably not in vivo, as the EHT study was), no genetic changes were observed in two specific types of skin cells. EHT welcomes this good news, about two types of cell at two specific frequencies, but the narrow finding is not a blanket safety statement for all 5G wavelengths on all human cells, as headlines like, “Even if 5G penetrates a few millimetres into the skin, it is safe” published in Cosmos or “5G Safety Confirmed” on msn.com seem to imply. And when a reputable publication like Popular Science discusses this study under the headline, “Study debunks 5G health conspiracy theory (again),” we can only assume that the headline is intended to grab an audience’s eye, even if the content below does not support the statement.

The fact sadly remains that respected scientists elsewhere released a peer-reviewed article almost simultaneously finding that EMF exposure can be connected to multiple types of cancer in lab animals, including tumors in the heart and brain, with results that were found in vivo—in living animals and not just in a Petri dish. The authors of the 2025 WHO-backed study concluded, “The results of this systematic review provide high or moderate CoE (certainty of evidence) for several cancer sites relevant to cancer hazard identification for humans.”

We at EHT support all proper research conducted in the field of EMF, and the appropriate conclusions that can be drawn from it.

If you are able to help EHT in its efforts to conduct essential research and encourage sensible standards for EMF exposure, please consider making a donation.

https://ehtrust.org/eht-responds-what-recent-headlines-mean-when-they-call-5g-safe/