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Base stations are thus not the subject
of the safety 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 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 predisposed
to develop cancer in the absence
of RF exposure. Other studies
exposed the animals to RF for
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