Samsung SGH-x497 manual What are the results of the research done already?, 163

x497.book Page 163 Thursday, July 21, 2005 11:55 PM

Consumer Information on Wireless Phones

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 thosethey cangetfrom wirelessphones. Base stationsare thus not the primary subject of the safety questions discussed in this document.

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 engineeredortreatedwithcancer-causingchemicalssoas to be pre-disposed to develop cancer in absence of RF exposure. Other studies exposed the animals to RF for up

Section 13: Health and Safety Information 163

Section 13