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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 Radio Frequency (RF)
energy 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 do not
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?
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