In this video, Mikhail Varshavski, DO, who goes by "Dr. Mike" on YouTube, talks about electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and wireless technology.
Following is a partial transcript of the video (note that errors are possible):
Varshavski: Hey, I'm Dr. Mike Varshavski, board-certified family medicine doctor. Welcome to another episode of "Truth or Scare?" On today's episode, the claim is wireless Bluetooth headphones are dangerous because they emit radiation that might cause brain cancer and AirPods are riskier than other types of headphones.
Let's start with saying that all wireless devices -- Wi-Fi routers, baby monitors, cell phones, video game consoles, smartwatches, headphones, and more -- emit EMFs, also known as electromagnetic fields, which are technically a type of radiation. Bluetooth technology uses radiation in order to connect one wireless device to another, such as headphones, to an iPhone or laptop. EMFs actually exist on a frequency spectrum, where frequency essentially means energy, and we can split these EMFs into two main categories based on that frequency.
High-frequency EMFs are considered ionizing radiation. A lot of exposure to that kind of radiation can change human cell structure enough to cause cancer. X-ray machines, CT scans, they all emit low levels of ionizing radiation, which is why precautions are taken to use them as little as possible. UV [ultraviolet] light is also ionizing, which is why I always say wear sunscreen and avoid tanning beds your entire life.
On the other hand, EMFs from very low- to mid-frequency are non-ionizing radiation. Non-ionizing radiation does not have enough energy to directly damage cell DNA, which is what happens when cancer develops. However, with this claim, the theory is that low- and moderate-frequency EMFs might not be directly causing cellular DNA damage, but perhaps over time -- because we're not just using these headphones for a second or two -- that damage ultimately can arise. But what does the evidence tell us about all of this?
To be honest, there haven't been direct studies on looking at the health impacts of radiation from Bluetooth headphones. Most of the research exploring the potential link between non-ionizing EMFs and cancer has focused on cell phones. Although cell phones and Bluetooth headphones both emit the same kind of non-ionizing radiation, Bluetooth headphones emit a lot less of it, 10 to 400 times less, according to one 2019 study. At this point, there are some experts that believe cell phones are a potential risk for cancer and they have been quite vocal about their concerns for a while.
Back in 2011, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which is an agency within the WHO [World Health Organization] that evaluates cancer risks, classified radiofrequency radiation from wireless devices as a possible carcinogen. The main evidence at the time was a large observational study that actually didn't find an overall increased risk of brain tumors from cell phone usage. But the study did find a statistical association -- so a correlation, not causation -- between malignant brain tumors called gliomas and those who had the highest levels of cell phone exposure. But researchers warned that the association was not strong and that the data was hard to make sense of because there are so many confounders, meaning other factors besides cell phone usage that could have explained why people ended up with brain cancer.
Then in 2015, more than 200 scientists petitioned the World Health Organization and the United Nations for stricter rules around non-ionizing EMFs and referenced the 2011 decision to classify it as a potential carcinogen. The scientists argued that radiation emissions from wireless devices might be harmful at levels deemed safe under the existing guidelines. The petition came on the heels of a study that showed the heaviest users of cell phones and cordless phones were somewhat more likely to be diagnosed with meningiomas, which is a type of slow-growing brain tumor. But the association was, again, too weak for researchers to conclude that cell phone use generally caused meningiomas.
Some more recent studies have been done and they do suggest a link between cell phone usage and cancer or biological changes that might enable tumor formation, but all of them had flaws or substantial limitations, so the results have been framed as a reason to do more research and not as clear evidence that cell phone radiation is a risk factor for brain cancer. For example, one 2018 study found that high levels of radiofrequency radiation caused cancerous heart tumors in male rats and mice. The study certainly made headlines, but researchers said the results could not be generalized to humans. First of all, the way that the rodents were exposed to radiation in the study was not how we use cell phones, and at the end of the day, rats aren't people. It's a good first step and maybe it will guide further research, but it doesn't give us a clear answer as of yet.
Moving on, in 2020 the FDA published a review of 125 studies exploring that potential link between radiofrequency radiation and cancer. They looked at a mix of animal research and observational studies on humans. They found no consistent pattern to support a link.
There are good reasons to keep investigating these potential health risks of cell phones. They have evolved a lot since they became popular and so has the way we use them. Also, we are no longer talking primarily about adults. Today, most kids have their own cell phones and kids don't necessarily respond the same way as adults do when they're exposed to potential environmental health risks like toxic chemicals or viruses, so maybe the same will go for EMF. It's important for scientific knowledge to keep up with this modern technology, so the call for more research isn't really a reason to panic. It's the responsible path forward.
But let's go back to Bluetooth headphones, which became a bigger part of this whole conversation in 2019 when a Medium article that argued AirPods might be dangerous and referenced the 2015 WHO petition. The fact that the WHO petition had not specifically mentioned Bluetooth headphones didn't seem to even matter. The article came out the same year as AirPods did, so they were already in the spotlight. The Medium article also brought up the idea that the amount of radiation emitted by wireless devices isn't the only factor in their potential health effects.
See, wireless tech emits short bursts of electromagnetic energy called pulses, which the article said might be able to cause cell damage at a lower-intensity level than non-pulsing radiation could. One expert said this factor is ignored by government health agencies and therefore isn't captured by safety guidelines. There is some rat research on electromagnetic pulses, but as far as human health goes this is not exactly an evidence-based belief.
Watch the video above for more.
, is a board-certified family physician and social media influencer with more than 12 million subscribers.