Nokia 7610 User's Guide download pdf (Page 144)

Appendix B

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 subject of the safety questions discussed in this document.

3. What kinds of phones are the subject of this update?

The term wireless phone refers here to hand-held wireless phones with built-in

antennas, often called cell mobile or PCS phones. These types of wireless phones

can expose the user to measurable radiofrequency energy (RF) because of the short

distance between the phone and the user’s head. These RF exposures are limited by

Federal Communications Commission safety guidelines that were developed with

the advice of 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 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

numbers of animals would be needed to provide reliable proof of a cancer promoting

effect 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 effects, such as cancer. This is because the interval

between the time of exposure to a cancer-causing agent and the time tumors develop

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Nokia 7610 User's Guide Page 144

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