Do Cellphones Cause Cancer? FCC May Revisit The Issue [REPORT]

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According to Reuters, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski circulated a proposal Friday to other FCC commissioners asking for a formal inquiry into the standards the agency set in 1996.

While a spokesman stressed that the FCC doesn't specifically think mobile phones are at the root of any health issues, the inquiry would revisit the issue and ensure there wasn't scientific evidence to the contrary. The proposal will need to be approved by the majority of the five commissioners before being released to the public for comment.

In May of last year, the World Health Organization classified cellphones as "possibly carcinogenic to humans," placing them on the same list as coffee and picked vegetables. At the time, IARC Director Christopher Wild said "It is important that additional research be conducted into the long-term, heavy use of mobile phones," and warned against their use before said research was conducted.

A 1,000-participant study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute a few months later, however, indicated there was no link between cellphones and cancer.

The FCC set its standards for a safe level of radio frequency emissions from cellphones in 1996. Currently each phone that is sold in the United States is tested by the FCC against those standards, and must receive approval from the organization before being sold to consumers.