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,
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
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