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 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.
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 Federal
Communications Commission safety
guidelines that were developed with the
advice of 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
SAFETY AND
WARRANTY
FDA CONSUMER
UPDATE
FDA CONSUMER
UPDATE
SAFETY AND
WARRANTY
180
181
