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FDA CONSUMER UPDATE
Lifetime animal exposure studies could be completed
in a few years. However, very large numbers of ani-
mals 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 10 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 epidemio-
logical studies is hampered by difficulties in measur-
ing actual RF exposure during day-to-day use of wire-
less 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 FDA doing to find out more about the possi-
ble health effects of wireless phone RF?
FDA is working with the U.S. National Toxicology
Program and with groups of investigators around the
world to ensure that high priority animal studies are
conducted to address important questions about the
effects of exposure to radiofrequency energy (RF).
FDA has been a leading participant in the World Health
Organization International Electromagnetic Fields
(EMF) Project since its inception in 1996. An influen-
tial result of this work has been the development of a
detailed agenda of research needs that has driven the
establishment of new research pro-grams around the
world.
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FDA CONSUMER UPDATE
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 investi-
gating the effects of radiofrequency energy (RF) expo-
sures 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 associa-
tion between the use of wireless phones and primary
brain cancer, glioma, meningioma, or acoustic neu-
roma, tumors of the brain or salivary gland, leukemia,
or other cancers. None of the studies demonstrated
the existence of any harmful health effects from wire-
less phone RF exposures. However, none of the stud-
ies can answer questions about long-term exposures,
since the average period of phone use in these stud-
ies 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 epidemiologi-
cal studies of people actually using wireless phones
would provide some of the data that are needed.