Cellular
Phone Low Level RF Radiation Dangers?
Are cellular
phones dangerous to your health? Although there is no conclusive
proof of these dangers, just about everyone is recommending keeping
your cellular phone's RF signal away from your body by using an
external
cell phone antenna or hands-free
kit.
What's to
be afraid of?
Your cellular
phone is basically a low power, two way radio. Being a radio,
your phone uses radio frequency (RF) signals. When you talk on
your phone, an RF signal is transmitted phone to nearby tower
then to land lines, out to the destination tower until it makes
it to the destination cell phone. The term "cellular"
comes from towers set up across your coverage area, each tower
is considered a cell. When you're traveling, you may go from cell
to cell (or tower to tower).
Since your
cellular phone uses radio frequency signals, you, the user, is
exposed to these signals. However, the signal uses very little
power and is very low. The general consenus is that the power
is too low to have any effect on human health. Most scientists
are not concerned. However there are some that disagree.
Here are
a few articles, links to research and other sources of information
on the possible dangers of cellular phone signal.
First, what
does the industry have to say about it?
CTIA is the
voice of the wireless industry - representing its members in a
constant dialogue with policy makers in the Executive Branch,
in the Federal Communications Commission, and in Congress, CTIA's
industry committees provide leadership in the area of taxation,
roaming, safety, regulations, fraud and technology.
CTIA and
the wireless industry are deeply committed to safety and to providing
timely, accurate information to consumers about wireless phones.
This website is one of the ways in which we communicate this information.
First, the
United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the World
Health Organization (WHO) have said that the scientific evidence
to date does not demonstrate any adverse health effects associated
with the use of wireless phones. However, they and other government
and scientific groups have called for further research, a call
to which the industry both in the United States and around the
world has supported. Second, there has been significant research
conducted on wireless phones and health; much has been completed
and much more continues even today. In fact, in the early summer
of 2000, CTIA launched a new research initiative in conjunction
with FDA -- known as a CRADA -- to further examine scientific
questions about radiofrequency (RF) energy. The results of this
work will augment the existing body of scientific information
and will be shared with the public as quickly as it becomes available.
Read
more on CTIA's view on cellular phone health issues.
U.S.
Food and Drug Administration
What biological effects can be caused by RF energy?
The energy
levels associated with radiofrequency energy, including both radio
waves and microwaves, are not great enough to cause the ionization
of atoms and molecules. Therefore, RF energy is a type of non-ionizing
radiation. Other types of non-ionizing radiation include visible
light, infrared radiation (heat) and other forms of electromagnetic
radiation with relatively low frequencies.
FDA
Center for Devices and Radiological Health
Like other
components of FDA, the Center
for Devices and Radiological Health has established advisory
committees to provide independent, professional expertise and
technical assistance on the development, safety and effectiveness,
and regulation of medical devices and electronic products that
produce radiation. Each committee consists of experts with recognized
expertise and judgment in a specific field. Members have the training
and experience necessary to evaluate information objectively and
to interpret its significance. These persons are not regular employees
of FDA, but are paid as "special government employees"
for the days they participate as members of a panel. This is time
they take from their daily occupations to provide their professional
skills to FDA. The committees are advisory -- they provide their
expertise and recommendations -- but final decisions are made
by FDA. Go here to visit this
site.
FDA
FAQ: Do wireless phones pose a health hazard?
The available
scientific evidence does not show that any health problems are
associated with using wireless phones. There is no proof, however,
that wireless phones are absolutely safe. Wireless phones emit
low levels of radiofrequency energy (RF) in the microwave range
while being used. They also emit very low levels of RF when in
the stand-by mode. Whereas high levels of RF can produce health
effects (by heating tissue), exposure to low level RF that does
not produce heating effects causes no known adverse health effects.
Many studies of low level RF exposures have not found any biological
effects. Some studies have suggested that some biological effects
may occur, but such findings have not been confirmed by additional
research. In some cases, other researchers have had difficulty
in reproducing those studies, or in determining the reasons for
inconsistent results.
Do
wireless phone accessories that claim to shield the head from
RF radiation work?
Since there
are no known risks from exposure to RF emissions from wireless
phones, there is no reason to believe that accessories that claim
to shield the head from those emissions reduce risks. Some products
that claim to shield the user from RF absorption use special phone
cases, while others involve nothing more than a metallic accessory
attached to the phone. Studies have shown that these products
generally do not work as advertised. Unlike "hand-free"
kits, these so-called "shields" may interfere with proper
operation of the phone. The phone may be forced to boost its power
to compensate, leading to an increase in RF absorption. In February
2002, the Federal trade Commission (FTC) charged two companies
that sold devices that claimed to protect wireless phone users
from radiation with making false and unsubstantiated claims. According
to FTC, these defendants lacked a reasonable basis to substantiate
their claim.
What about
wireless phone interference with medical equipment?
Radiofrequency
energy (RF) from wireless phones can interact with some electronic
devices. For this reason, FDA helped develop a detailed test method
to measure electromagnetic interference (EMI) of implanted cardiac
pacemakers and defibrillators from wireless telephones. This test
method is now part of a standard sponsored by the Association
for the Advancement of Medical instrumentation (AAMI). The final
draft, a joint effort by FDA, medical device manufacturers, and
many other groups, was completed in late 2000. This standard will
allow manufacturers to ensure that cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators
are safe from wireless phone EMI.
FDA has tested
hearing aids for interference from handheld wireless phones and
helped develop a voluntary standard sponsored by the Institute
of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). This standard specifies
test methods and performance requirements for hearing aids and
wireless phones so that that no interference occurs when a person
uses a “compatible” phone and a “compatible”
hearing aid at the same time. This standard was approved by the
IEEE in 2000.
FDA continues
to monitor the use of wireless phones for possible interactions
with other medical devices. Should harmful interference be found
to occur, FDA will conduct testing to assess the interference
and work to resolve the problem.
More
about cellular phone safety from the FDA
Go
here for more on radiofrequency signals on the FDA's website.
Introduction
In 1997,
the WHO International EMF Project developed a Research Agenda
in order to facilitate and coordinate research on the possible
adverse health effects of non-ionizing radiation. In subsequent
years, this agenda has undergone periodic review and refinement.
A major update
to the RF (radiofrequencies) Research Agenda was undertaken with
the input of an ad hoc committee of invited scientific experts
who met in Geneva in June 2003. Further input to the RF Research
Agenda came from a WHO Workshop “Adverse Temperature Levels
in the Human Body” held in Geneva in March, 2002, (see Goldstein
et al., Int. J. Hyperthermia 19, 373-384, 2003). The committee
reviewed research in the following areas: Epidemiology and Human
Laboratory Studies, Animal and Cellular Studies, and Dosimetry.
Consideration was restricted to RF; possible effects non-ionizing
radiation from static fields, wide-band and power frequencies
will be considered separately.
The RF Research
Agenda defines high priority research whose results would contribute
to the WHO health risk assessment for RF exposures. Researchers
are encouraged to use the Research Agenda as a guide to studies
that have high value for WHO health risk assessments. To maximize
the effectiveness of large research programs, government and industry
funding agencies are encouraged to address the WHO Research Agenda
in a coordinated fashion. Such coordination will minimize unnecessary
duplication of effort and will ensure the most timely completion
of the studies identified as being of high priority for health
risk assessment.
Read
more on the WHO Research
Mobile Telephones and
Their Base Stations
Mobile telephones,
sometimes called cellular phones or handies, are now an integral
part of modern telecommunications. In some parts of the world,
they are the most reliable or only phones available. In others,
mobile phones are very popular because they allow people to maintain
continuous communication without hampering freedom of movement.
This fact
sheet has been updated in the light of recent reviews of the
effects on human beings of exposure to radiofrequency (RF) fields
conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in November 1999,
the Royal Society of Canada (1999), and a review on mobile phones
and health by an expert committee in the United Kingdom (IEGMP
2000).
Over 180 studies have
been initiated using human, animal, and cell culture experimental
models to investigate whether exposure to radiofrequency (RF)
emissions, specifically from
mobile telephony, can cause or promote cancer (Table 1). One hundred
fifteen of these
studies are now complete, with the vast majority reporting no
association with cancer
endpoints. A list of these studies including details of exposure,
test model, and author's
conclusions can be obtained from the WHO website at http://www.who.int/pehemf/
research/database/en/. The results of cancer related studies from
this database will be
used by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)
in 2004/05 to evaluate RF
emissions as a potential human carcinogen. In addition, the results
of non-cancer related
studies from this database will be used by the WHO in 2005/06
to evaluate RF emissions for
adverse human health effects other than cancer. In such evaluations,
epidemiological studies
will carry the most weight. Animal studies will play an important
role when epidemiological
studies are weak or not definitive. In vitro studies will generally
have a supporting or
clarifying role. Read
more.
Mobile Phone Use and the Risk of Acoustic Neuroma
Epidemiology. 15(6):653-659, November 2004.
Lonn, Stefan *; Ahlbom, Anders *; Hall, Per +; Feychting, Maria *
Background: Radiofrequency exposure from mobile phones is concentrated to the tissue closest to the handset, which includes the auditory nerve. If this type of exposure increases tumor risk, acoustic neuroma would be a potential concern.
Long-Term Mobile Phone Use and Brain Tumor Risk
Stefan Lönn1, Anders Ahlbom1, Per Hall2, Maria Feychting1 and the Swedish Interphone Study Group
Handheld mobile phones were introduced in Sweden during the late 1980s. The purpose of this population-based, case-control study was to test the hypothesis that long-term mobile phone use increases the risk of brain tumors. The authors identified all cases aged 20–69 years who were diagnosed with glioma or meningioma during 2000–2002 in certain parts of Sweden. Randomly selected controls were stratified on age, gender, and residential area.
Human exposure to radiofrequency radiation has increased dramatically during recent years from widespread use of mobile phones. If radiofrequency radiation has a carcinogenic effect, the exposure poses an important public health problem, and intracranial tumors would be of primary interest. A biologic mechanism that could explain any possible carcinogenic effect from radiofrequency radiation has not been identified. It is generally agreed that the heating of tissue by radiofrequency radiation from mobile phone use is negligible and that any carcinogenic effect would have to be mediated through a nonthermal mechanism. The results of most previous studies of brain tumors in mobile phone users have been negative although a Finnish study and a Swedish study have indicated an increased risk. Studies of ionizing radiation have indicated that the induction period of radiation-induced solid tumors is probably at least 10 years. If, however, the mechanism is one of promotion rather than initiation, a shorter induction period would be possible. No studies to date have had an exposure time long enough to properly address the potential adverse late health effects of mobile phone use.
Pooled analysis of two case-control studies on the use
of cellular and cordless telephones and the risk of
benign brain tumours diagnosed during 1997-2003
LENNART HARDELL1,2, MICHAEL CARLBERG1 and KJELL HANSSON MILD2,3
1Department of Oncology, University Hospital, SE-701 85 Örebro; 2Department of Natural Sciences, Örebro University, SE-701 82 Örebro; 3National Institute for Working Life, SE-907 13 Umeå, Sweden
The use of cellular and cordless telephones is widespread and
increasing in society. A potential association between cellular
and cordless telephones and health effects is of concern and has
been discussed in several articles during recent years (1-3).
Of special concern is the risk of brain tumours since this is a
part of the body with high exposure during phone calls
compared with other parts.
Cellular telephones emit radio frequency signals during
calls. Exposure is characterized through the specific absorption
rate (SAR) expressed as watt/kg. Analogue (NMT; Nordic
Mobile Telephone System) phones operating at 450 MegaHertz
(MHz) were introduced in Sweden in 1981. At first, they
were usually used in cars with a fixed external antenna.
Portable NMT 450 phones were introduced in 1984. Analogue
phones using 900 MHz (NMT 900) were used in Sweden
between 1986 and 2000. The digital system (GSM; Global
System for Mobile Communication) started in 1991 and has
during recent years dramatically increased to become the
most common phone type. This system uses dual band, 900
and 1,800 MHz, for communication. From 2003, the third
generation of mobile phones, 3G or UMTS (Universal Mobile
Telecommunication System), was introduced in Sweden,
operating at 1,900 MH
There have been allegations
in the media and in the courts that cell phones and other types
of hand-held transceivers are a cause of cancer. There have also
been numerous public objections
to the siting of TV, radio and cell phone transmission facilities
because of a fear of cancer induction. A recent publication in
Radiation Research by Repacholi et al. (147, 631– 640, 1997)
which suggests that exposure to radio frequency (RF) radiation
may increase lymphoma incidence in mice has contributed to this
controversy. The goal of this review is to provide biomedical
researchers a brief overview of the existing RF radiation–cancer
studies. This article begins with a brief review of the physics
and technology of cell phones. It then reviews the existing epidemiological
studies of RF radiation, identifying gaps in our knowledge. Finally,
the review discusses the cytogenetics literature on RF radiation
and the whole-animal RF-radiation carcinogenesis studies. The
epidemiological evidence for an association between RF radiation
and cancer is found to be weak and inconsistent, the laboratory
studies generally do not suggest that cell phone RF radiation
has genotoxic or epigenetic activity, and a cell phone RF radiation–cancer
connection is found to be physically implausible. Overall, the
existing evidence for a causal relationship between RF radiation
from cell phones and cancer is found to be weak to nonexistent.
q 1999 by Radiation Research Society
Go
here to read this document.
Mobile telecommunication
has developed considerably in recent years: to date over half
the population of the Netherlands posses a mobile telephone. Nevertheless,
concerns also grow, particularly as to whether exposure to electromagnetic
fields from antennas and mobile telephones can adversely affect
health. In this advisory report, the Electromagnetic Fields Committee
of the Health Council of the Netherlands provides, on the basis
of the scientific literature, an overview of various aspects that
may play a role. The Committee comes to the conclusion that there
is at present no reason for concern. However, since mobile telephony
leads to widespread electromagnetic field exposure and relatively
little knowledge exists on, especially, longterm effects, it indicates
areas for further research. In particular, the Committee indicates
in what areas research can be conducted in the Netherlands.
Go
here to read this report.
SUMMARY:
Cellular telephones emit and receive radiofrequency (RF) signals
between
about 450 and 2200 MHz which fall in the microwave region of the
electromagnetic
spectrum. A RF wave from a cellular telephone contains billions
of times less energy
than an x-ray and is not capable of inducing ionizations or damaging
DNA. The rapid
and widespread use of this technology, however, has raised concern
over possible adverse
health effects, in particular brain cancer. A few studies which
addressed this
concern in the United States and Sweden are non-informative, either
because the follow-
up was too short and numbers of cancers too small (USA) or because
of serious
methodological limitations (Sweden). In contrast, five well-designed
epidemiologic
studies have been conducted in three countries by investigators
using different designs:
three hospital-based case-control studies in the United States,
a registry-based casecontrol
study in Finland, and a registry-based cohort study of over 400,000
cellular
phone users in Denmark. In our view, a consistent picture has
emerged from these studies
that appears to rule out, with a reasonable degree of certainty,
a causal association
between cellular telephones and cancer to date. No consistent
evidence was observed
for increased risk of brain cancer, meningioma, acoustic neuroma,
ocular melanoma,
or salivary gland cancer, examined over a wide range of exposure
measures, including
type of phone (analogue or digital), duration of use, frequency
of use, total cumulative
hours of use, tumor location and laterality (concurrence of tumor
location with hand
normally used during phone conversations). These methodologically
sound epidemiologic
investigations have limitations associated with any non-experimental
study, and
although they are not the same across each of the studies, the
influence of bias, confounding
and uncertainties in exposure assessment cannot be completely
discounted.
However, increased risks of 20% or higher can be excluded with
a high level of confidence.
Complementing the human data are the emerging results of experimental
studies
which have failed to confirm earlier reports of possible adverse
outcomes from RF
exposure. Moreover, there is no biologically plausible mechanism
to support a carcinogenic
effect of non-ionizing RF waves. While the current state of the
science is reassuring,
ongoing case-control studies being conducted in 13 countries using
a shared
protocol, and continued follow-up of cohorts of cellular phone
users, should provide
further evidence regarding any possible carcinogenic effect associated
with long-term
cellular telephone use.
Go
here to read this report.
This FAQ
addresses the issue of whether base station transmitter/antennas
for cellular phones, PCS phones, and other types of portable transceivers
are a risk to human health.
There has
been anecdotal evidence for several years associating use of cellular
phones, and other sources of electromagnetic radiation in the
microwave region of the spectrum, with brain cancers and other
cancers. From police officers who used radar guns to heavy users
of cellular phones who have contracted cancer, there has been
mounting evidence that exposure to this kind of electromagnetic
radiation may not be as safe as advertised.
Do cell
phones cause cancer? We don't know yet, but the history of similar
scares is that they look less and less scary the more we learn
about them. We now know that the infamous power line cancer scare
resulted not only from sloppy science, but also from outright
academic fraud, according to the Office of Research Integrity
at the government's National Institutes of Health.
The importance
of ensuring compatibility between activated electronic instrumentation
of various kinds and the pulsed microwave radiation currently
used in GSM mobile telephony is well recognised and generally
accepted. Prohibition of the use of cellular phones on aircraft
and in hospitals, on the grounds that their emissions might adversely
interfere with the operation of sensitive electronic equipment,
is familiar, and their possible deleterious effect on personal
medical devices, such as heart pacemakers, hearing aids, defibrillators
and insulin pumps has been the subject of a number of published
scientific studies in recent years. Given that it is inconceivable
- at least in the case of aviational and hospital equipment -
that the interference could arise from the heating effect of the
radiation, some other, non-thermal, influence of the radiation
must here (at least tacitly) be considered to be responsible.
Unfortunately, however, the same considerations do not currently
extend to the alive human organism, which is generally considered
to be immune from adverse influences of GSM radiation, on account
of its intensity [1] being far too low to cause any deleterious
degree of body tissue heating (as quantified through the so-called
specific absorption rate, or SAR [2]; for, contrary to case of
electronic instrument-ation, it is generally accepted that for
humans adverse effects can arise only from excessive heating.
Indeed, this belief is reflected in the relative leniency of the
ICNIRP Safety Guidelines [3], which permit us to be exposed to
electric fields that are over ten times stronger than the limit
of 3V/m limit that is applicable to all electronic goods offered
for sale in the EU under current legislation on Electromagnetic
Compatibility (EMC).
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