Just days before the National Academy of Sciences' newly formed RF radiation committee holds its first meeting —primarily to plan its August 7-9 workshop (see May 24 post) — the Swiss federal environmental agency has issued its own report on what is and is not known about the health effects of high-frequency radiation. This is precisely the mission of the NAS panel: to identify current gaps in knowledge and research needs on the possible impacts of cell phones on health.
One key finding of the Swiss report is that "it has to be generally regarded as possible that intensive long-term use of mobile telephones could lead to an increased risk of brain tumors."
We look forward to comparing the U.S. report with its Swiss counterpart when the NAS committee completes its work at the end of the year.
The complete 165-page Swiss report is available only in German, but the summary has been translated into English, French and Italian. The environmental agency's June 26 press release is in French, German and Italian.
