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SAFETY GUIDELINES
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
80
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
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