Motorola 009 User Manual

Page 176

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176

Accompli 009 User’s Guide

H e a l t h a n d S a f e t y

What is known about cases of human cancer that have been reported
in users of hand-held mobile phones?

Some people who have used mobile phones have been diagnosed

with brain cancer. But it is important to understand that this type of

cancer also occurs among people who have not used mobile phones.

In fact, brain cancer occurs in the U.S. population at a rate of about

6 new cases per 100,000 people each year. At that rate, assuming

80 million users of mobile phones (a number increasing at a rate of

about 1 million per month), about 4800 cases of brain cancer would

be expected each year among those 80 million people, whether or

not they used their phones. Thus it is not possible to tell whether any

individual's cancer arose because of the phone, or whether it would

have happened anyway. A key question is whether the risk of getting

a particular form of cancer is greater among people who use mobile

phones than among the rest of the population. One way to answer

that question is to compare the usage of mobile phones among people

with brain cancer with the use of mobile phones among appropriately

matched people without brain cancer. This is called a case-control

study. The current case-control study of brain cancers by the National

Cancer Institute, as well as the follow-up research to be sponsored

by industry, will begin to generate this type of information.

What is FDA's role concerning the safety of mobile phones?

Under the law, FDA does not review the safety of radiation-emitting

consumer products such as mobile phones before marketing, as it

does with new drugs or medical devices. However, the agency has

authority to take action if mobile phones are shown to emit radiation

at a level that is hazardous to the user. In such a case, FDA could

require the manufacturers of mobile phones to notify users of the

health hazard and to repair, replace or recall the phones so that the

hazard no longer exists.

Although the existing scientific data do not justify FDA regulatory

actions at this time, FDA has urged the mobile phone industry to take

a number of steps to assure public safety. The agency has

recommended that the industry:

support needed research into possible biological effects of RF of
the type emitted by mobile phones;

design mobile phones in a way that minimizes any RF exposure
to the user that is not necessary for device function; and

Accompli 009 User's Guide_.book Page 176 Wednesday, June 26, 2002 2:56 PM

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