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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 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,
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Emergency Services and Safety Precautions