LG US780 - Page 101

101
Safety
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difcultiesinmeasuringactualRF
exposureduringday-to-dayuseofwirelessphones.Manyfactorsaffect
thismeasurement,suchastheangleatwhichthephoneisheld,orwhich
modelofphoneisused.
6. What is the FDA doing to find out more about the possible