EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES OF CANCERS AND EXPOSURES TO RADIO FREQUENCIES

摘要

This review will summarize the epidemiological studies assessing radiofrequency exposures and human cancer. Five types of epidemiological study contribute to this question: general descriptive studies, cluster studies, ecological studies, cohort, and case-control studies. The epidemiological evidence does not give clear or consistent results and requires careful consideration with regard to accepted criteria relevant to assessing causality. As with other science, the results cannot establish the absence of any hazard, other than to indicate that, for some situations, any undetected health effects must be small. All the studies have limitations in terms of the information on individual levels of exposure. However, the general population studies in the UK and Australia of subjects living close to large television and radio transmitters, the Motorola employees' study, the large population based study of mobile phone subscribers in Denmark, and the study of U.S. navy servicemen are particularly important. There are now four case-control studies published on brain cancer in relationship to personal use of mobile phones. Other studies are in progress, including those in the World Health Organization International EMF project.