Last Friday the National Toxicology Program from the US Department of Health and Human Services, released two reports that relate high levels of cell-phone radiation to carcinogenic activity.
While the carcinogenic activity and schwannoma (a rare type of cancer) were found in the male rats, female rats did not present any significant conclusions, being the situation in a mouse study as well.
John Bucher, one of the authors of the report, a senior scientist at the National Toxicology Program explained the two studies were an approach to understanding the effects of radiofrequency exposure as a risk to human health.
Statements by the FDA
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recognized the studies as necessary, even though it highlights the fact that the radio-frequency applied to male rats was remarkably higher than the one experienced by humans on a daily basis, meaning the study should not directly infer the same results in human cell phone manipulation.
The FDA also stated that since the study was first found ambiguous, evidencing unusual situations like radio-frequency exposed rats living longer than the control group ones, the association expects to participate in the next review of the following studies to carefully discuss the quality of the data obtained and its conclusions.
Furthermore, FDA reviewers explained that the evidence received was not enough to demonstrate a dangerous health effect in humans originated by the radio-frequency exposure limits. They also state that issues such as brain tumors are still not observed as a consequence of daily radio-frequency use.
The next study will be reported in March, meeting then the reviewers’ team, members of the FDA, that aim to protect public health and is relied on for scientific expertise.
Wrecking the objects of study
The general limit imposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding radio-frequency exposure, sets a boundary of 0.08 Watts per Kilogram, being the maximum admitted of 20 Watts per Kilogram for no longer than six minutes.
The mice and rats exposed to the radiation on the studies were blasted with intensities going from 1 to 10 Watts per Kilogram, for up to 9 hours a day. Mr. Bucher explained:
“The levels and duration of exposure to RFR were much greater than what people experience with even the highest level of cell phone use, and exposed the rodents’ whole bodies… We note, however, that the tumors we saw in these studies are similar to tumors previously reported in some studies of frequent cell phone users.”
The study sadly is far from conclusive since some evidence can relate schwannoma in the hearts of male rats with the radio-frequency radiation, while the equivocal evidence links the same exposure to brain glioma developed in female rats.
The reports were published leaving several amounts of inquiries, but the following reports are expected to answer these give definitive results and conclusions on the risks of radio-frequency related to human health issues.
Source: CNN