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Phone radiation data due
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July 14, 2000: 8:09 p.m. ET
Industry trade group votes to reveal levels emitted from cell phones
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The cell phone industry has decided to make information about the amount of radiation users absorb into their heads when they talk on wireless handsets available to the public, CNNfn has learned.
Backing away from its earlier opposition to publishing such information, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association in Washington, D.C. has voted to release information on the amount of radiation wireless phones emit.
Manufacturers who want to be certified by the trade group will have to submit the data beginning August 1. It is expected to be available to consumers in three-to-six months.
With the explosive growth of wireless telephones has come rising concern over potential harm from the radiation that some handsets emit into the heads of people who use them.
The CTIA maintains that all wireless phones meet government standards and there has been no research linking them with cancer or other health concerns. But the issue is still the subject of some debate.
Although the results have been deemed inconclusive by federal health officials, studies have suggested a link between radiation emitted by cell phones and human health problems.
One study by researchers at the American Health Foundation found an association between cell phone use and a rare type of brain tumor. Another, conducted by Integrated Laboratory System, found that DNA in human blood cells breaks down when exposed to large doses of cell phone radiation, possibly laying the genetic groundwork for cancer.
In May, a government advisory panel recommended that children be discouraged from using cellular telephones for nonessential calls, and that cell phones carry labels disclosing the amount of radiation they generate.
Last month, the Food and Drug Administration, which oversees the safety of radiation-emitting consumer products, agreed to work in partnership with the CTIA to perform at least $1-million worth of scientific studies.
Funding for those studies, which will be overseen by a panel of international experts assembled by the FDA, is being provided by the CTIA. The first results are expected be released in about two years. 
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