Factors that influence the radiofrequency power output of GSM mobile phones.

Epidemiological studies of mobile phone use and risk of brain cancer have relied on self-reported use, years as a subscriber, and billing records as exposure surrogates without addressing the level of radiofrequency (RF) power output. The objective of this study was to measure environmental, behavioral and engineering factors affecting the RF power output of GSM mobile phones during operation. We estimated the RF-field exposure of volunteer subjects who made mobile phone calls using software-modified phones (SMPs) that recorded output power settings. Subjects recruited from three geographic areas in the U.S. were instructed to log information (place, time, etc.) for each call made and received during a 5-day period. The largest factor affecting energy output was study area, followed by user movement and location (inside or outside), use of a hands-free device, and urbanicity, although the two latter factors accounted for trivial parts of overall variance. Although some highly statistically significant differences were identified, the effects on average energy output rate were usually less than 50% and were generally comparable to the standard deviation. These results provide information applicable to improving the precision of exposure metrics for epidemiological studies of GSM mobile phones and may have broader application for other mobile phone systems and geographic locations.

Accounting for human variability and sensitivity in setting standards for electromagnetic fields.

Biological sensitivity and variability are key issues for risk assessment and standard setting. Variability encompasses general inter-individual variations in population responses, while sensitivity relates to unusual or extreme responses based on genetic, congenital, medical, or environmental conditions. For risk assessment and standard setting, these factors affect estimates of thresholds for effects and dose-response relationships and inform efforts to protect the more sensitive members of the population, not just the typical or average person. While issues of variability and sensitivity can be addressed by experimental and clinical studies of electromagnetic fields, investigators have paid little attention to these important issues. This paper provides examples that illustrate how default assumptions regarding variability can be incorporated into estimates of 60-Hz magnetic field exposures with no risk of cardiac stimulation and how population thresholds and variability of peripheral nerve stimulation responses at 60-Hz can be estimated from studies of pulsed gradient magnetic fields in magnetic resonance imaging studies. In the setting of standards for radiofrequency exposures, the International Commission for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection uses inter-individual differences in thermal sensitivity as one of the considerations in the development of "safety factors." However, neither the range of sensitivity nor the sufficiency or excess of the 10-fold and the additional 5-fold safety factors have been assessed quantitatively. Data on the range of responses between median and sensitive individuals regarding heat stress and cognitive function should be evaluated to inform a reassessment of these safety factors and to identify data gaps.

Epidemiologic evidence for assessing the carcinogenicity of acrylamide.

Acrylamide (ACM) has recently been found in fried and baked foods, suggesting widespread public exposure. ACM is an industrial chemical that causes neurotoxicity in humans and an increase in benign tumors of the endocrine system of laboratory rats. The U.S. EPA and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) have designated ACM as a probable human carcinogen based on the bioassay data and evidence for a DNA reactive mechanism. We report here an assessment of the published epidemiological data with regard to exposure to ACM. The results of an epidemiology mortality study of heavily exposed workers published in 1999 failed to reveal any increase in total cancer in this workforce. The average total exposure in the exposed group was equivalent to over 100% of the estimated average lifetime dietary intake, assuming a U.S. diet. However, this epidemiologic information had limited power to detect modest increases in specific tumors of the type reported in the rodent studies. Although the mortality study could not have picked up the small increases in cancer or in specific cancer types predicted by EPA's linear extrapolation model, research on biochemical and physiological mechanisms suggests that EPA's assessment overstates the potency, and therefore, the risk from foods and other sources of exposure may be lower than previously anticipated.