Federal cellphone guidelines could undergo 'tweaks' after cancer study

Federal cellphone guidelines for consumers could undergo "tweaks" after a major government study found a link between tumors and exposure to cellphone-type radiation in rats, according to a head of the agency that oversaw the study.

John Bucher, the associate director of the US National Toxicology Program, said the decision will ultimately be up to other agencies like the Food and Drug Administration or the Federal Communications Commission. "If anything there may be some tweaks to these recommendations. We don't know at this point," he said. The rats in the study were exposed to near-constant levels of radio frequency radiation. While the waves are similar to those emitted by cellphones, the rats were exposed to much heavier levels than is associated with typical cellphone use. Bucher said it is still too early to say how the results translate to humans. "This is a study that is looking at the biological plausibility of carcinogenic effects due to cellphone radiation," he said. "The direct translation of these finding to the way humans are using cellphones is not currently completely worked out. That is part of the evaluation that is going forward." "This may have relevance; it may have no relevance," he added, noting that the study has not changed the way he uses a cellphone. The FCC said it had been briefed on the study and noted that scientific evidence always informs its work on the matter.