In 1994, the GAO reported that available scientific data were insufficient to determine the health risks of cell phones, and that the Food and Drug Administration and Environmental Protection Agency had no reason to take regulatory action at that time. The GAO recommended that the FDA, in coordination with the EPA and the Federal Communications Commission, work with the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association to maximize the usefulness, independence and objectivity of the group s planned five-year research initiative. The five-year research initiative is now over. Not all of the results have been published, yet in May, the research director released preliminary data suggesting that two of its 40 scientific studies may have found evidence of harmful effects from cell phone use. The premature release of these findings before the research was complete caused some controversy in the scientific community and the findings themselves were widely reported in the media.
Additional research is ongoing.
Lieberman is now requesting an update. I am asking the GAO to clarify exactly what risks may or may not exist, Lieberman said, in order to provide the most accurate information to an understandably concerned public.