A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation

National Academy of Sciences RF Report Due 

January 15, 2008

On Thursday, January 17, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council (NAS-NRC) will release its report on what types of research, if any, are needed to address potential health effects of radiation used for wireless communications.

The report, which was requested by the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), marks the closing chapter of the cooperative research agreement (or CRADA) between the CTIA, the trade association of the cell phone and wireless industries, and the CDRH. The CTIA sponsored the project. Frank Barnes of the University of Colorado, Boulder, chaired the NAS-NRC committee that wrote the report.

Back in June, the Center for Science in the Public Interest criticized the makeup of the panel for being too heavily weighted with physicists and engineers at the expense of biologists and for having ties to industry. The NAS-NRC hosted a workshop last summer to review gaps in knowledge of RF biological effects (see our August 10 post).