First, it is uncertain how to apply the results obtained in rats and mice to humans. Second, many of the studies that showed increased tumor development used animals that had already been treated with cancer-causing chemicals, and other studies exposed the animals to the RF virtually continuously—up to 22 hours per day.

For the past five years in the United States, the mobile phone industry has supported research into the safety of mobile phones. This research has resulted in two findings in particular that merit additional study:

1In a hospital-based, case-control study, researchers looked for an association between mobile phone use and either glioma (a type of brain cancer) or acoustic neuroma (a benign tumor of the nerve sheath). No statistically significant association was found between mobile phone use and acoustic neuroma. There was also no association between mobile phone use and gliomas when all types of types of gliomas were considered together. It should be noted that the average length of mobile phone exposure in this study was less than three years.

When 20 types of glioma were considered separately, however, an association was found between mobile phone use and one rare type of glioma, neuroepithelliomatous tumors. It is possible with multiple comparisons of the same sample that this association occurred by chance. Moreover, the risk did not increase with how often the mobile phone was used, or the length of the calls. In fact, the risk actually decreased with cumulative hours of mobile phone use. Most cancer causing agents increase risk with increased exposure. An ongoing study of brain cancers by the

90

Page 90
Image 90
Motorola V200 manual