The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has questioned the findings of a recently published, long-term Swedish study which found a possible connection between heavy cell phone use and certain forms of brain cancer.
In a statement, the FDA said that the findings of the Swedish study are “difficult to interpret” because it used a mailed questionnaire rather than telephone of in-person interviews with subjects, and failed to make statistical adjustments for factors the FDA, at least for the time being, feels might be significant. The FDA notes that the results from the Swedish study are inconsistent with previous long-term studies of cellular phone use; for its part, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, which regulates wireless spectrum and operators, has said that it believes there is no increased risk of cancer from cell phone use, or, if there is, the risk is extremely slight.
However, the FDA says it will “continues to monitor studies looking at possible heath effect resulting from exposure to radio frequency energy,” and plans to convene a meeting to evaluate research and identify gaps which merit additional research.
