User guide

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Occupational Safety and Health Administration
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National Telecommunications and Information Administration
The National Institutes of Health participates in some interagency working group activities, as well.
FDA shares regulatory responsibilities for wireless phones with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). All phones
that are sold in the United States must comply with FCC safety guidelines that limit RF exposure. FCC relies on FDA and
other health agencies for safety questions about wireless phones.
FCC also regulates the base stations that the wireless phone networks rely upon. While these base stations operate at
higher power than do the wireless phones themselves, the RF exposures that people get from these base stations are
typically thousands of times lower than those they can get from wireless phones. Base stations are thus not the primary
subject of the safety questions discussed in this document.
4. What are the results of the research done already?
The research done thus far has produced conicting results, and many studies have suered from aws in their research
methods. Animal experiments investigating the eects of radiofrequency energy (RF) exposures characteristic of wireless
phones have yielded conicting 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 eects 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 numbers of animals would be needed to provide reliable proof of a cancer promoting eect 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 eects, 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 epidemiological studies is hampered by diculties in measuring actual RF exposure during day-to-
day use of wireless phones. Many factors aect 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 possible 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 eects 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 inuential result of this work has been the development of a detailed agenda of research
needs that has driven the establishment of new research programs around the world. The Project has also helped develop
a series of public information documents on EMF issues.
FDA and the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA) have a formal Cooperative Research and
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