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Appendix C: Consumer Update on Wireless Phones
184
standard sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and
Electronic Engineers (IEEE). This standard specifies test
methods and performance requirements for hearing aids
and wireless phones so that no interference occurs when
a person uses a compatible phone and a compatible
hearing aid at the same time. This standard was approved
by the IEEE in 2000.
FDA continues to monitor the use of wireless phones for
possible interactions with other medical devices. Should
harmful interference be found to occur, FDA will conduct
testing to assess the interference and work to resolve the
problem.
10.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 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.