An accumulating body of evidence indicates that living organisms exposed to specific windows of doses/dose rates of both ionizing and non-ionizing radiation demonstrate J-shaped dose response curves. Evaluation of these dose-response curves is of great importance in radiation biology as well as radiation protection. Studies conducted by my colleagues and I show that the general patterns of induction of phenomena such as adaptive response are similar for ionizing and non-ionizing radiations. Given this consideration, we have previously reported that the so called “dose window theory” that is well discussed for adaptive responses induced by ionizing radiation, is valid for non-ionizing radiation. Recently, after reviewing the current literature, we provided data indicating that in a similar pattern with ionizing radiation, the carcinogenesis of non-ionizing radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) may have a nonlinear dose-response relationship. In particular, we introduced data that support the validity of a J-shaped dose-response relationship. Considering the pattern of J-shaped dose response models, ignoring the key issue of the exposure level (low levels vs. high-level exposures) can be introduced as a main root of current controversial reports regarding the carcinogenesis of RF-EMF. In this light, some studies show an association between mobile phone use and brain tumors, especially in people who used their mobile phones for long durations (e.g. ≥10 years). In summary, better understanding of the J-shaped dose response models for both ionizing and non-ionizing radiations can shed some light on the dark corners of current controversies about the adverse health effects of low-level exposures.

1. The Challenges of J-shaped Dose Response Models for
Ionizing and Non-ionizing Radiations:
The Roots of Controversy
SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D
Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, IR &
Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA 19111, United States
SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 1
Figure Source:
https://www.needpix.com/photo/247339/ball-
about-binary-ball-hand-keep-float-binary-one-null

2. J-Shaped, Linear and Threshold
Dose-Response Models
• A J-shaped model, as shown above, describes low-dose reductions in the incidence of diseases.
SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 2
Ricci et al. Dose Response,
2012; 10(2): 177–189.

3. J-shaped Models Come from
Toxicology
• “The known human carcinogen arsenic
(AsIII) adversely affects DNA repair, cellular
control mechanisms, and oxidative stress”.
• “In conclusion, low doses of arsenic (≤1 μM)
trigger an adaptive response that acts to
ameliorate the adverse effects of oxidative
stress”..
SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 3

4. Are J- or inverse J-shaped
responses Universal?
• “Different agents induce J- or inverse J-shaped responses in
different test systems, such as rodents, cattle, rabbit, rhesus
monkey”.
• “For example, alcohol, diesel exhaust particles,
formaldehyde, lead, Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD),
and methyl mercury show immunological biphasic
responses”.
SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 4
Ricci et al. Dose Response,
2012; 10(2): 177–189.

5. Slide Topic
SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 5

6. Slide Topic
SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 6

7. No scientific consensus for LNT !
• “…that there is no scientific consensus for using the LNT model. ”.
SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 7
Editor in Chief of HPJ

8. Are we approaching the end of the LNT?
• “Considering the strength of the evidence against the LNT model and the
weakness of the evidence for it, the present analysis indicates that advisory
bodies would be compelled to reject the LNT model. ”.SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 8
Professor Mohan Doss
and E. Calabrese

9. NCRP and LDR Issue!
• “The NCRP Committee recognises that the risks from LD/LDR exposures are
small and uncertain. The Committee judged that the available epidemiologic
data were broadly supportive of the LNT model and that at this time no
alternative dose-response relationship appears more pragmatic or prudent for
radiation protection purposes”. SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 9

10. The Giants’ War
SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 10

11. SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 11
“One problem with the atomic bomb survivor data, as
traditionally reported, is the shape of the dose–response
function that the data analysis used to extract excess
relative risks (ERRs).
Since low radiation doses have resulted in decreased
cancers in many studies (Figs. 1–3), and since high
radiation doses would increase cancer risk (1), a J-
shaped dose–response function should have been used
while processing the data.
However, an LNT dose–response function was used in
analyzing the data, and so the resultant ERRs may not be
reliable and should not be used to draw conclusions on
the dose–response relationship for radiation”.
Are We Approaching the
End of the Linear No-
Threshold Era?
Mohan Doss
J Nucl Med December 1, 2018
vol. 59 no. 12 1786-1793

12. SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 12

13. J-shaped Models for
Non-Ionizing Radiation
SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 13

14. In this talk, I’ll mainly focus on RF-EMF,
particularly 5G
SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 14
RF-EMF
5G

15. The technology is coming, but contrary to what
some people say, there could be health risks!
SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 15
Joel Moskowitz, PhD
Director
Center for Family and Community Health
University of California, Berkeley

16. NY Times: The 5G Health Hazard That Isn’t
How one scientist and his inaccurate chart led to unwarranted
fears of wireless technology.
By William J. Broad
July 16, 2019
• “That’s why they put the towers
so close together,” he said. “The
waves don’t penetrate.” If human
skin also blocks 5G signals, Dr.
Carpenter acknowledged, “maybe
it’s not that big a deal.”.
SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 16

17. SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 17
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/337/6092/290.2

18. SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 18
Source: The Great Politicization of Climate Change
https://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/the-great-politicization-of-climate-change-part-1.html

19. NY Times: Your 5G Phone Won’t Hurt You. But
Russia Wants You to Think Otherwise.
RT America, a network known for sowing disinformation, has a new
alarm: the coming ‘5G Apocalypse.’.
By William J. Broad
July 16, 2019
• 5G is also a growing point of friction between
Washington and Beijing, with each side lining
up allies in what has become a major
technology race. Moscow and Beijing are seen
as possibly forming a 5G political bloc.
SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 19
• “It’s economic warfare,” Ryan Fox,
chief operating officer of New
Knowledge, a technology firm that
tracks disinformation, said in an
interview. “Russia doesn’t have a
good 5G play, so it tries to
undermine and discredit ours”.

20. Myths about 5G Health Hazards
• Low penetration (the protective
effect of human skin)
• Low Energy (not adequate to
ionize atoms).
• Comparing RF with Visible Light
SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 20

21. Myths about RF Health Hazards
• Low Energy (not adequate to ionize
atoms)
• Comparing RF with Visible Light
• Low penetration of 5G (the protective
effect of human skin)
SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 21
“It indicates that among 100 currently
available peer-reviewed studies dealing
with oxidative effects of low-intensity
RFR, in general, 93 confirmed that RFR
induces oxidative effects in biological
systems”. Electromagn Biol Med. 2016;35(2):186-202.

22. Potential RF Health Hazards
SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 22
Increased Skin
and Breast
Cancers?
Premature Skin
Aging?
Mehdizadeh AR, Mortazavi SMJ. 5G Technology: Why Should We Expect a shift
from RF-Induced Brain Cancers to Skin Cancers?. Journal of biomedical physics
& engineering. 2019 Oct;9(5):505-506.

23. Non-Linearity in RF-EMF Effects
SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 23

24. Radiofrequency-Induced
Adaptive Response
• In 2009, for the 1st time it was found that pre-exposure of cultured cells
to radiofrequency radiation induced an adaptive response which
increased the resistance of these cells to mytomycin C (Sannino et al. ,
2009a).
Mortazavi SMJ, Ph.D
24

25. Radiofrequency-Induced Adaptive Response
 Mortazavi et al. also found that laboratory animals pre-
irradiated with radiofrequency radiation were less
susceptible to subsequent lethal effects of high doses of
ionizing radiation (Mortazavi et al. , 2011a, Mortazavi et al. ,
2012a).
 These findings later confirmed by our subsequent reports
(Mortazavi et al. , 2011b, Mortazavi et al, 2012a) as well as
the very limited published reports that investigated the
induction of adaptive response after pre-treatment with
microwave radiation (Cao et al. , 2011, Jiang et al. , 2012,
Sannino et al. , 2009b, Sannino et al. , 2011, Zeni et al. ,
2012).
Mortazavi SMJ, Ph.D
25

26. Mortazavi SMJ, Ph.D
26

27. Mortazavi SMJ, Ph.D
27

28. Window Theory in Adaptive
Response
Mortazavi SMJ, Ph.D
28

29. Mortazavi SMJ, Ph.D
“the adaptive response in mammalian cells and mammals operates within a
certain window that can be defined by upper and lower dose thresholds,
typically between about 1 and 100 mGy for a single low dose rate exposure”.
29

30. Mortazavi SMJ, Ph.D
30
Induction of Adaptive Responses in Different Lymphoblastoid Cell Lines
Source: http://staff.washington.edu/jschwart/
Other adapting doses may induce AR!
Window of Doses/Dose Rates

31. Mortazavi SMJ, Ph.D
31

32. Min/Max power density for AR
• A preliminary experiment was conducted to determine the
minimum power density needed for 900 MHz RF pre-
exposure to minimize the damage induced by subsequent
exposure to DOX.
• Cells were pre-exposed to 900 MHz RF at 12, 120 and 1200
mW/cm2 power density for 1 hour/day for 3 days.
Mortazavi SMJ, Ph.D
32
Jin et al. 2012

33. Mortazavi SMJ, Ph.D
33
Jin et al. 2012

34. Viability
SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 34
Jin et al. 2012
Inverted J Relationship Between RF Power Density and Viability

35. Mortazavi SMJ, Ph.D
35

36. Troubling Publications!
• We have previously shown that some of
the papers claiming no link between
mobile phone use and brain cancer risk
have methodological errors and/or
shortcomings (Mortazavi et al., 2017a,b,
2018; Mortazavi, 2018).
SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 36

37. SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 37

38. SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 38

39. SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 39

40. • In particular, in one of the
papers reviewed by our
research group, a 400%
difference in brain tumors was
masked by poor statistical
interpretation! (Mortazavi,
2018).
SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 40
Troubling Publications!

41. SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 41
A 400% difference in brain tumors was masked
by poor statistical interpretation!

42. SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 42

43. SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 43

44. The Roots of Controversy!
SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 44

45. SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 45
Rumi, the 13th Century Persian poet, included "The Elephant in the
Dark" in his “Masnavi”. In his retelling, some Hindus bring an elephant
to be exhibited in a dark room. A number of men touch and feel the
elephant in the dark and, depending upon where they touch it, they
believe the elephant to be like a water spout (trunk), a fan (ear), a pillar
(leg) and a throne (back).

46. SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 46
Mortazavi SMJ, Mortazavi SAR, Haghani M. Evaluation of the validity of a Nonlinear J-shaped
dose-response relationship in cancers induced by exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic
fields. Journal of Biomedical Physics & Engineering. 2019 Aug;9(4):487-494.
J

47. SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 47
Data from: Coureau G, Bouvier G, Lebailly P, Fabbro-Peray P, Gruber A, Leffondre K, et al.
Mobile phone use and brain tumours in the CERENAT case-control study. Occup Environ Med.
2014;71:514-22.
Mortazavi SMJ,
Mortazavi SAR,
Haghani M.
Evaluation of the
validity of a
Nonlinear J-shaped
dose-response
relationship in
cancers induced by
exposure to
radiofrequency
electromagnetic
fields. Journal of
Biomedical Physics &
Engineering. 2019
Aug;9(4):487-494.

48. SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 48
Data from: Coureau G, Leffondre K, Gruber A, Bouvier G, Baldi I. Author’s response: re ‘mobile
phone use
and brain tumours in the CERENAT case-control study’. Occup Environ Med. 2015;72:79-80.
Mortazavi SMJ,
Mortazavi SAR,
Haghani M.
Evaluation of the
validity of a
Nonlinear J-shaped
dose-response
relationship in
cancers induced by
exposure to
radiofrequency
electromagnetic
fields. Journal of
Biomedical Physics &
Engineering. 2019
Aug;9(4):487-494.

49. SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 49
Mortazavi SMJ, Mortazavi SAR, Haghani M.
Evaluation of the validity of a Nonlinear J-
shaped dose-response relationship in
cancers induced by exposure to
radiofrequency electromagnetic fields.
Journal of Biomedical Physics & Engineering.
2019 Aug;9(4):487-494.
Data from: Momoli F, Siemiatycki J,
McBride ML, Parent ME, Richardson L,
Bedard D, et al. Probabilistic multiple-
bias modelling applied to the Canadian
data from the INTERPHONE study ..,
and parotid gland tumors. Am J
Epidemiol. 2017;186:885-93.

50. CONCLUSIONS:
“Our results suggest that long-term mobile phone use may be associated with an
increased risk of glioma”.
Our Proposed J-shaped Model is
receiving Support from Recent Studies!
SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 50

51. CONCLUSIONS:
“We found evidence linking mobile phone use and risk of brain tumours especially in
long-term users (≥10 years)”.
Our Proposed J-shaped Model is
receiving Support from Recent Studies!
SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 51

52. Conclusion
SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 52

53. Every coin has two sides!
SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 53

54. SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 54

55. SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 55

56. SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 56

57. SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 57
“In conclusion, these results suggest that exposure to RFR is associated with an increase in DNA
damage.

58. SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 58
“Unfortunately standards set by most national and international bodies are not protective of human
health. This is a particular concern in children, given the rapid expansion of use of wireless
technologies, the greater susceptibility of the developing nervous system, the hyperconductivity of
their brain tissue, the greater penetration of radiofrequency radiation relative to head size and their
potential for a longer lifetime exposure”.
The giants of EMF science

59. Thank you for your attention!
SMJ Mortazavi, Ph.D 59