Is it true that linear motor cars cause cancer? No, that's not true: Studies conducted by experts concluded that passengers aboard a high-speed bullet train will not have their health affected by the electromagnetic exposure from power cables.
The claim appeared in a TikTok video (archived here) on November 20, 2023. In the video, a man named Shunsuke Funase claims that traveling in "linear motor cars," commonly referred to as Shinkansens in Japan or bullet trains, causes cancer due to the transmission of electromagnetic waves on board. He says (translated from Japanese to English by Lead Stories staff):
Nobody rides linear [motor cars] because they can cause cancer and you can contract stage IV cancer from it. When you ride linear [motor cars] your head starts to buzz and when you get off, you will surely be 50-100 times more likely to get cancer.
The stickers on the video from top to bottom read (as translated):
Insane levels of electromagnetic waves. High-speed carcinogen. Linear expulsion theory. Those within the permitted levels are 40,000 times more likely to get cancer.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Fri Nov 24 04:04:32 2023 UTC)
In contrast to Funase's assertions, the electromagnetic waves emitted by high-speed trains lack the strength to impact passengers' well-being. Rui Tian and Mai Lu conducted a study in 2020 that measured electromagnetic exposure in fully occupied high-speed train carriages, revealing levels well below the guidelines established by the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). This study concluded that the electromagnetic levels within high-speed trains do not pose any health risks to passengers. In another study conducted by Halgamuge and others in 2010, the electromagnetic field strengths were notably lower than those found in prior studies, and far below international levels set up in the ICNIRP's guidelines.
Other studies have confirmed that adults exposed to electromagnetic fields (EMF) do not face an elevated risk of cancer.
