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Safety Guidelines
questions discussed in this
document.
3. What kinds of phones are the
subject of this update?
The term 'wireless phone' refers
here to handheld wireless phones
with built-in antennas, often
called 'cell', 'mobile', or 'PCS'
phones. These types of wireless
phones can expose the user
to measurable radiofrequency
energy (RF) because of the short
distance between the phone
and the user's head. These RF
exposures are limited by FCC
safety guidelines that were
developed with the advice of the
FDA and other federal health and
safety agencies. When the phone
is located at greater distances
from the user, the exposure to
RF is drastically lower because a
person's RF exposure decreases
rapidly with increasing distance
from the source. The so-called
'cordless phones', which have
88
a base unit connected to the
telephone wiring in a house,
typically operate at far lower
power levels, and thus produce
RF exposures far below the FCC
safety limits.
4. What are the results of the
research done already?
The research done thus far has
produced conflicting results, and
many studies have suffered from
flaws in their research methods.
Animal experiments investigating
the effects of radiofrequency
energy (RF) exposures
characteristic of wireless phones
have yielded conflicting results
that often cannot be repeated
in other laboratories. A few
animal studies, however, have
suggested that low levels of RF
could accelerate the development
of cancer in laboratory animals.
However, many of the studies
that showed increased tumor
development used animals that
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