Spend a lot of time in close contact with your cellphone? Many of us do, and it’s been 15 years since the Federal Communications Commission set a limit on how much low-level radiation cell phone users are exposed to. It’s time for a new look at both that limit and the technique used to test for it, according to a report issued this week by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
Current limits may be based on out-of-date research, and its test requirements may underestimate the maximum exposure users experience when holding phones against the body, according to the GAO review, done at the request of members of Congress.
“With mobile phones in the pockets and purses of millions of Americans, we need a full understanding of the long-term impact of mobile phone use on the human body, particularly in children whose brains and nervous systems are still developing,” said Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), who was one of the lawmakers who requested the GAO report. “With the health of American consumers at stake, it is time we send these standards in for a check-up.”
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