In today’s world, wireless earphones have become an essential part of people’s everyday lives. From office calls to music to social media, these devices are worn for hours on end, raising a persistent question: Is the radiation emitted from Bluetooth earphones harmful to health, and could it increase the risk of cancer? Viral claims on the internet even say that wearing them is like having a microwave near your head. Let’s find out the truth behind these claims and separate the truth from the lies.
What do experts say?
To clear up this misconception, Dr J Jagannathan, a neurosurgeon from the Michigan Neurosurgery Institute in the US, recently clarified the situation based on scientific evidence in a video. In this video shared on Instagram on October 13, 2025, he responded to a viral clip that compared wearing AirPods to being exposed to a microwave. According to Dr. Jagannathan, this comparison is completely misleading. He explained that the radiation emitted from wireless earphones is “non-ionizing”, which is not considered capable of damaging DNA. This is why there is no concrete evidence directly linking it to cancer.
Radiation is much less than mobile phones
He says that the radiation emitted from Bluetooth earphones is much less than that of mobile phones. According to data, the radiation emitted from devices like AirPods can be about 10 to 400 times less than that of mobile phones. Therefore, if there is no solid evidence of cancer risk from mobile phone use, the risk is considered to be even lower in the case of earphones.
Which research is often cited?
The research most often cited in relation to cancer claims is the National Toxicology Program (NTP) study. In this study, rats were exposed to radiofrequency radiation for a long time. In this, a slight increase in certain types of heart cancer was seen in male rats, whereas no such clear effect was seen in female rats. Dr. Jagannathan explains that this study was later reviewed by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA clearly stated that this research does not prove a direct link between cancer and radiation in humans. It is also important to note that the amount of radiation given to the rats in the study was under different circumstances than radiation exposure from mobile phones or earphones in real life. According to experts, based on the current scientific evidence, it would be wrong to say that wireless earphones cause cancer.
