Motorola StarTAC 3000 User Manual page 100

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cumulative hours of mobile phone use. Most
cancer causing agents increase risk with
increased exposure. An ongoing study of brain
cancers by the National Cancer Institute is
expected to bear on the accuracy and
repeatability of these results.
2 Researchers conducted a large battery of
laboratory tests to assess the effects of exposure
to mobile phone RF on genetic material. These
included tests for several kinds of abnormalities,
including mutations, chromosomal aberrations,
DNA strand breaks, and structural changes in the
genetic material of blood cells called
lymphocytes. None of the tests showed any
effect of the RF except for the micronucleus
assay, which detects structural effects on the
genetic material. The cells in this assay showed
changes after exposure to simulated cell phone
radiation, but only after 24 hours of exposure. It
is possible that exposing the test cells to radiation
for this long resulted in heating. Since this assay
is known to be sensitive to heating, heat alone
could have caused the abnormalities to occur.
The data already in the literature on the response
of the micronucleus assay to RF are conflicting.
Thus, follow-up research is necessary.
FDA is currently working with government,
industry, and academic groups to ensure the proper
follow-up to these industry-funded research
findings. Collaboration with the Cellular
Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA)
in particular is expected to lead to FDA providing
research recommendations and scientific oversight
of new CTIA-funded research based on such
recommendations.
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