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129
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 epi-
demiological studies of people actually using
wireless phones would provide some of the data
that are needed. Lifetime animal exposure stud-
ies 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 if one exists. Epidemiological studies can
provide data that is directly applicable to human
populations, but 10 or more years’ follow-up may
be needed to provide answers about some health
effects, such as cancer. This is because the interval
between the time of exposure to a cancer-causing
agent and the time tumors develop - if they do
-may be many, many years. The interpretation of
epidemiological studies is hampered by difficul-
ties in measuring actual RF exposure during day-
to-day use of wireless phones. Many factors affect
this measurement, such as the angle at which the
phone is held, or which model of phone is used.
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128
Animal experiments investigating the effects of
radiofrequency energy (RF) exposures character-
istic 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 ani-
mals. 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 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 asso-
ciation between the use of wireless phones and
primary brain cancer, glioma, meningioma, or
acoustic neu-roma, tumors of the brain or sali-
vary 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,
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WARRANTY
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Summary of Contents for CDM8905
Page 2: ...User Guide CDM8905...
