For Your Safety
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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 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?
A combination of laboratory studies and
epidemiological studies of people actually using
wireless phones would provide some of the data
that are needed. Lifetime animal exposure studies
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 ten 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
