Safety
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 Radio Frequency (RF) energy 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 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
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Migo
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 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 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