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For Your Safety
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—maybemany,many
years.Theinterpretationofepidemiologicalstudiesishamperedbydifficultiesinmeasuring
actualRFexposureduringday-to-dayuseofwirelessphones.Manyfactorsaffectthis