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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
Radio Frequency (RF) energy
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 Radio Frequency
(RF) energy 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 do not
know with certainty what the
results of such studies mean for
human health. Three large
epidemiology studies have been
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