federal level. The following agencies belong to this working group:
“National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
“Environmental Protection Agency
“Federal Communications Commission
“Occupational Safety and Health Administration
“National
Telecommunications
and Information Administration
The National Institutes of Health participates in some interagency working group
activities, as well.
FDA shares regulatory responsibilities for wireless Tablet PCs with the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC). All Tablet PCs that are sold in the United
States must comply with FCC safety guidelines that limit RF exposure. FCC relies on
FDA and other health agencies for safety questions about wireless Tablet PCs.
FCC also regulates the base stations that the wireless Tablet PC networks rely upon.
While these base stations operate at higher power than do the wireless Tablet PCs
themselves, the RF exposures that people get from these base stations are typically
thousands of times lower than those they can get from wireless Tablet PCs. Base
stations are thus not the primary subject of the safety questions discussed in this
document.
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 radio frequency energy (RF) exposures characteristic of wireless Tablet
PCs 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 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 Tablet PCs, 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 Tablet PCs 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
Tablet PCs RF exposures. However, none of the studies can answer questions
about long-term exposures, since the average period of Tablet PC use in these
studies was around three years.
What research is needed to decide whether RF exposure from wireless Tablet
PCs poses a health risk?
A combination of laboratory studies and epidemiological studies of people actually
using wireless Tablet PCs 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 ten or more years' follow-up may be needed to
