Assessment of radiofrequency exposure from cellular telephone daily use in an epidemiological study: German Validation study of the international case-control study of cancers of the brain-INTERPHONE-Study.
Berg G, Schuz J, Samkange-Zeeb F, Blettner M. · 2004
View Original AbstractCall frequency alone accurately predicts your total cell phone radiation exposure, validating health studies that rely on self-reported usage data.
Plain English Summary
German researchers tracked actual cell phone radiation exposure using specially modified phones that recorded power output during calls, then compared this data to what people reported about their phone use. They found that people's self-reported number of calls was a reasonable predictor of their total radiation exposure, with call frequency explaining about 23% of the variation in cumulative power exposure. This validation study was part of the larger INTERPHONE investigation examining links between cell phone use and brain tumors.
Why This Matters
This study reveals a critical insight for EMF research: the number of calls you make is actually a decent proxy for your total radiation exposure from cell phones. What this means for you is that when researchers ask about your calling habits in health studies, they're getting meaningful data about your actual EMF exposure levels. The science demonstrates that factors like driving while talking, urban versus rural use, or even your specific phone model don't significantly change your radiation dose - it really comes down to how often you're making calls. This validation work strengthens the credibility of epidemiological studies like INTERPHONE that rely on self-reported phone use data. Put simply, when these large-scale studies find health effects correlated with reported call frequency, we can be more confident that participants who reported more calls actually did receive higher radiation exposures.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study. Duration: 1 month
Study Details
The objective of the study is to validate self-reported cellular phone use information by comparing it with the cumulative emitted power and duration of calls measured by software-modified cellular phones (SMP). The information was obtained using a questionnaire developed for the international case-control study on the risk of the use of mobile phones in tumours of the brain or salivary gland (INTERPHONE-study).
The study was conducted in Bielefeld, Germany. Volunteers were asked to use SMPs instead of their ow...
In total, 1757 personal mobile phone calls were recorded for 45 persons by SMP and traffic records. ...
The number of calls alone is a sufficient parameter to estimate the cumulative power emitted by the handset of a cellular telephone. The cumulative power emitted by these phones is only associated with number of calls but not with possible confounding factors. Using the mobile phone while driving, mainly in cities, or mainly in rural areas is not associated with the recorded cumulative power in the SMP.
Show BibTeX
@article{g_2004_assessment_of_radiofrequency_exposure_1899,
author = {Berg G and Schuz J and Samkange-Zeeb F and Blettner M.},
title = {Assessment of radiofrequency exposure from cellular telephone daily use in an epidemiological study: German Validation study of the international case-control study of cancers of the brain-INTERPHONE-Study.},
year = {2004},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15266354/},
}