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FDA update on wireless phones
lower because a person's RF exposure decreases
rapidly with increasing distance from the source.
The so-called cordless phones; which have 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 had been genetically engineered or
treated with cancer-causing chemicals so as to be
pre-disposed to develop cancer in the absence of
RF exposure. Other studies exposed the animals to
RF for up to 22 hours per day. These conditions
are not similar to the conditions under which
people use wireless phones, so we don't know
with certainty what the results of such studies
mean for human health. Three large epidemiology
studies have been published since December
2000. Between them, the studies investigated any
possible association between the use of wireless
phones and primary brain cancer, glioma,
meningioma, or acoustic neuroma, tumors of the
brain or salivary gland, leukemia, or other cancers.
None of the studies demonstrated the existence of
any harmful health effects from wireless phone RF
exposures. However, none of the studies can
answer questions about long-term exposures,
since the average period of phone use in these
studies was around three years.
5.WHAT RESEARCH IS NEEDED TO DECIDE
WHETHER RF EXPOSURE FROM WIRELESS
PHONES POSES A HEALTH RISK?
A combination of laboratory studies and
epidemiological studies of people actually using
wireless phones would provide some of the data
that are needed. Lifetime animal exposure studies
could be completed in a few years. However, very
large numbers of animals would be needed to
provide reliable proof of a cancer promoting effect
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