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stations are typically thousands of
times lower than those they can
get from wireless phones. 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 radiofrequency energy
(RF) 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 radiofrequency
energy (RF) 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