User's Manual

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assoc iated with use o f mobile phones. FDA co ntinues to work with all
parties, including other federal agenc ies and industry, to assure that
research is undertaken to provide the necessary answers to the
outstanding questions about the safety of mobile phones.
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 peo ple who have not used mobile phones. In fac t, brain c anc er occurs
in the U.S. populatio n at a rate of about 6 new c ases per 1 0 0 ,00 0 peo ple each
year. At that rate, assuming 8 0 million users of mobile phones ( a number
inc reasing at a rate of about 1 million per month) , about 4 80 0 cases of brain
canc er would be expected each year among those 8 0 million people, whether
or not they used their phones. Thus it is not possible to tell whether any
individual’s cancer arose because o f the phone, or whether it would have
happened anyway. A key question is whether the risk of getting a particular
form of canc er is greater among people who use mobile phones then among
the rest of the population. One way to answer the questio n 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 c anc er.
This is c alled a case-c ontrol study. The c urrent case-c ontrol study o f brain
canc ers by the National Canc er 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 medic al 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 c ase, FDA c ould require the manufac turers of mobile phones to notify