Motorola T2267 Introduction Manual page 75

FDA is currently working with government, industry, and
academic groups to ensure the proper follow-up to these
industry-funded research findings. Collaboration with the
Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) in
particular is expected to lead to FDA providing research
recommendations and scientific oversight of new CTIA-funded
research based on such recommendations.
Two other studies of interest have been reported recently in the
literature:
1 Two groups of 18 people were exposed to simulated mobile
phone signals under laboratory conditions while they
performed cognitive function tests. There were no changes in
the subjects' ability to recall words, numbers, or pictures, or in
their spatial memory, but they were able to make choices
more quickly in one visual test when they were exposed to
simulated mobile phone signals. This was the only change
noted among more than 20 variables compared.
2 In a study of 209 brain tumor cases and 425 matched
controls, there was no increased risk of brain tumors
associated with mobile phone use. When tumors did exist in
certain locations, however, they were more likely to be on the
side of the head where the mobile phone was used. Because
this occurred in only a small number of cases, the increased
likelihood was too small to be statistically significant.
In summary, we do not have enough information at this point to
assure the public that there are, or are not, any low incident
health problems associated with use of mobile phones. FDA
continues to work with all parties, including other federal
agencies and industry, to assure that research is undertaken to
provide the necessary answers to the outstanding questions
about the safety of mobile phones.
What is known about cases of human cancer that have
been reported in users of hand-held mobile phones?
Some people who have used mobile phones have been
diagnosed with brain cancer. But it is important to understand
that this type of cancer also occurs among people who have not
used mobile phones. In fact, brain cancer occurs in the U.S.
population at a rate of about 6 new cases per 100,000 people
each year. At that rate, assuming 80 million users of mobile
phones (a number increasing at a rate of about 1 million per
month), about 4800 cases of brain cancer would be expected
each year among those 80 million people, whether or not they
used their phones. Thus it is not possible to tell whether any
individual's cancer arose because of the phone, or whether it
would have happened anyway. A key question is whether the risk
of getting a particular form of cancer is greater among people
who use mobile phones than among the rest of the population.
One way to answer that question is to compare the usage of
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mobile phones among people with brain cancer with the use of
mobile phones among appropriately matched people without
brain cancer. This is called a case-control study. The current case-
control study of brain cancers by the National Cancer Institute, as
well as the follow-up research to be sponsored by industry, will
begin to generate this type of information.
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U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
English
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