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Non-ionizing radiation, like radiation from mobile phones, electric power transmission, and radio frequencies, etc. is regarded by the majority of people as safe to the human body. However the World Health Organization in 2011 stated:

The WHO/International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B), based on an increased risk for glioma, a malignant type of brain cancer, associated with wireless phone use.

This release is not definite, just a possible link, and it has been refuted. I cannot seem to find any good study that shows a direct association between health issues and non-ionizing radiation.

There is this study that showed brain glucose metabolism linked to cell phone proximity, but it has been refuted because it only involved 47 people and didn't control for the effect of the heat generated by the phone. And similar issues with other studies.

So my question is, is there any scientifically accepted link between non-ionizing radiation and health issues?

Edit

As @EnergyNumbers pointed out in his answer,

Your question is very broad - you've asked about non-ionizing radiation generally, rather than say specifically about radio waves. And that makes it much easier to answer in the affirmative.

Yes it is very broad, I don't want only radio wave related answers, and he lists some good ones. The only answer I don't wan't is one related to heat; like the heat from a microwave antenna.

Also if anyone cares, I asked this question because of a discussion that took place in the comments of this answer on SE's Electronic site, and I was surprised it hadn't been asked/answered here (there are a lot of somewhat related questions, but I couldn't find what I wanted.)

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Garrett Fogerlie
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    Non-ionizing radiation was responsible for me seeing Honey Boo-Boo. The damage is irreparable. – Larry OBrien Jan 07 '13 at 19:15
  • @LarryOBrien I'm so sorry, hopefully like me, it was only a ~30 second exposure and you'll live otherwise I don't know how you can live with that in your head! Ech!!! – Garrett Fogerlie Jan 07 '13 at 19:23
  • @LarryOBrien I wish you could get reputation from comments! I laughed heartilly at that! – JasonR Jan 07 '13 at 19:25
  • There is a lot of money spent disputing this claim. But not so much money involved in proving the link. – Chad Jan 07 '13 at 21:59
  • @GarrettFogerlie - No he is now addicted and it is worse than heroin to kick... he now lives for reruns of Honey Boo Boo and Junkyard wars. – Chad Jan 07 '13 at 22:01
  • related http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/569/do-mobile-phones-have-anything-to-do-with-brain-cancer http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/1178/are-wifi-waves-harmful/1204 – Sam I Am Jan 07 '13 at 22:53
  • @Chad that's what I started to notice (about the money spent...) As for Honey Boo Boo, I would most likely throw my remote at my tv if I sat through that show! – Garrett Fogerlie Jan 08 '13 at 00:16
  • Of course there isn't a tight and well defined boundary between the two classes as the ability to ionize depends on the medium to be affected. Severe sunburn---caused by exposure to modest UV wavelengths which fall neatly into the indeterminate band---can kill. – dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten Jan 08 '13 at 00:48
  • @dmckee that's a good point, probably worth adding as an answer if you feel like expanding on it. – Garrett Fogerlie Jan 08 '13 at 00:52
  • Re: edit. A microwave antenna doesn't emit much heat. It emits microwaves that excite molecules that convert the energy into heat. Also, your question starts to lack notability when you ask: apart from the ionization, microwave heating, and conveying information, what has the radiation ever done for us? – Oddthinking Jan 08 '13 at 03:48
  • @Oddthinking I understand the heat issue, I thought the link would simplistically explain it to ppl who didn't understand. Also, by no means did I not want answers related to x y or z (Re-read what I said.) `EnergyNumbers'` answer was great! It very well could be the best answer (even if there were more,) I learned from it. – Garrett Fogerlie Jan 08 '13 at 04:10

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Yes, some non-ionizing radiation can cause health problems. Your question is very broad - you've asked about non-ionizing radiation generally, rather than say specifically about radio waves. And that makes it much easier to answer in the affirmative.

See, for example, photochemical damage of the retina from high-intensity visible light:

enter image description here

Also, high-intensity near-infrared radiation will kill cells.

And focussed microwaves are also non-ionizing and aren't particular kind on fat and proteins either:

enter image description here

Oddthinking
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    Similarly, **high-intensity** microwave/radar radiation can have health effects: WHO's [Electromagnetic fields and public health: radars and human health](http://www.who.int/peh-emf/publications/facts/fs226/en/) – ChrisW Jan 07 '13 at 21:50
  • @ChrisW - good point - microwave note added – 410 gone Jan 07 '13 at 21:54
  • @EnergyNumbers +1 for the retna, and cell death, I didn't think of the retna, and didn't know about the cell one. As for the microwave, I originally had a exception for heat, but edited it out cause my explanation made the question a bit confusing. When I was in high school a Darwin Award was given for someone who died because they stood in front of a microwave dish to keep warm. Follow [this link](http://www.darwinawards.com/legends/legends1998-11.html) for the story, it's funny. Sad and stupid if true. Thx for the answer! – Garrett Fogerlie Jan 08 '13 at 00:18
  • @GarrettFogerlie That story was allegedly invented by a member of a Skeptics society, to test whether people believe what they read on the internet - see http://www.nmsr.org/darwiner.htm for details. But anyway, the WHO document which I cited says there are known effects, at the following dosages: "whole body or localized exposure to RF fields sufficient to increase tissue temperatures by greater than 1°C"; "An SAR of at least 4 W/kg" in the 1 MHz to 10 GHz range; and "power densities over 1000 W/m2" at above 10GKhz. – ChrisW Jan 08 '13 at 00:51
  • @ChrisW Interesting, I'll read the link when I have a sec, thx. I know the story has been around for a long time, my dad was a EE in telecom and he had heard something similar involving a drunk person > 30 years ago. Mythbusters may have even done a show on it, I don't recall the outcome, but my guess would be that at best it would have been **plausible**. – Garrett Fogerlie Jan 08 '13 at 01:03
  • This infographic is very misleading. for the first graphic, rgb adjustment, green should be 555nm, red should be 650nm, but blue is about right. – tuskiomi Nov 29 '16 at 21:37