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4. What are the results of the research
done already?
Theresearchdonethusfarhasproduced
conictingresults,andmanystudieshave
sufferedfromawsintheirresearchmethods.
Animalexperimentsinvestigatingtheeffects
ofRadioFrequency(RF)energyexposures
characteristicofwirelessphoneshave
yieldedconicting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—may