George L. Carlo

Reduced mortality among workers at a rubber plant.

We conducted a retrospective cohort study of mortality among current and former male employees of a modern tire manufacturing plant in Texas. Vital status was ascertained for more than 99% of the cohort of 2306 workers. Standardized mortality ratio analyses were completed based on 102 deaths. No significant excess for any disease-specific cause of death was identified, and significant deficits in all-cause mortality and deficits in cancer mortality were observed for both white and nonwhite men. The analyses were consistent in indicating that this work force has experienced no excessive disease-specific mortality.

The fruits of ongoing surveillance: Wireless technology research, L.L.C.’s clinical risk evaluation research

Abstract To address the issue of electromagnetic interference between wireless telephones in the 800 to 900 MHz and 1800 to 2200 MHz frequency ranges and implanted pacemakers, the Wireless Technology Research, L.L.C. (WTR) developed a three‐phase approach. The first phase included clinical studies to assess if and how pacemakers and telephones interact in vivo. The second phase involved the evaluation of the clinical and public health significance of such interference by an independent panel of cardiologists and other experts in the field. The third phase included recommendations for corrective intervention. The protocol for the WTRs first clinical study, conducted in triplicate, was developed in a collaborative effort by representatives from government, academia, wireless communications and health instruments industries, and health care. It tested 980 patients to determine the prevalence of interference with implanted pacemakers set at their clinically appropriate settings, with five different telephone...

Wireless Phones and Health

To understand the biological effects of radiofrequency (RF) fields on humans, both in vitro and in vivo studies exposing cell cultures, isolated tissues, and animals have been conducted. Dosimetry of nonionizing radiation is far more complicated than that of ionizing radiation. Field frequency and polarization, tissue dielectric properties, object size and shape, and the presence of metallic stimulating and recording instruments can all affect energy absorption in exposed subjects, either in vitro or in vivo. In addition, temperature control in an exposure system can influence biological responses. Different exposure systems are reviewed in this paper. Relevance of the systems to wireless technology research is discussed.

Postmarketing surveillance: Wireless technology research, L.L.C.’s epidemiology risk evaluation research

Abstract Under the Wireless Technology Research, L.L.C. (WTR) program, epidemiology studies are considered in the context of both postmarketing surveillance and as tools to test specific cause‐effect hypotheses to supplement experimental studies. Neither experimental studies nor epidemiological studies alone can provide a solid basis for assessing the potential public health impact of wireless communication technology. Therefore, results of studies from each of these distinct disciplines must be considered and interpreted in the context of the other, and answers regarding public health risk must follow from a weight‐of‐evidence evaluation. No previous epidemiology studies have been conducted on cellular telephone users. Therefore, a series of epidemiology studies of appropriate designs (e.g., cohort, case‐control) can assess the potential health risks derived from exposures to radiofrequency radiation from cellular telephone usage. Different study designs are necessary to fully evaluate possible causal as...

Wireless technology research, L.L.C.’s public health paradigm approach to assessing and managing health risks

Abstract The research program on wireless communication technology is a unique model for identifying and correcting public health problems, evolving from previous approaches in the scientific and medical communities, government, and industry. In early 1993, the hypothesis that cellular telephones might be related to brain cancer was advanced. Industry and government agreed on the need for research, and the Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) on Cellular Telephone Research was established to review the relevant available scientific literature, develop a research plan, and then implement the research in independent laboratories. The research was supported by a

Wireless technology research, L.L.C.’s risk management research

25 million commitment from the cellular industry. In 1994, the SAG became the Scientific Advisory Group on Wireless Technology to reflect its expanding research role and, in 1995, evolved into a legally constituted entity, the Wireless Technology Research, L.L.C. (WTR). The program is based on a public health paradigm, combining surveillance with researc...

Wireless technology research, L.L.C.’s ongoing surveillance

Abstract Besides assessing potential health risks, another of the Wireless Technology Research, L.L.C. (WTR) programs goals is to identify interventions to mitigate such risks should they be identified and to decide on the appropriate strategies to carry out those interventions. The risk management research is being coordinated through six working groups: (1) product certification, (2) product labeling, (3) product design changes, (4) infrastructure modifications, (5) usage restrictions, and (6) education and scientific outreach. Each working group is developing intervention strategies specific to their area. Working group members include scientists and engineers from the WTR, industry, and academia. As the risk evaluation surveillance component of the program proceeds, the WTR continually evaluates all new data relevant to wireless technology and its public health impact Preliminary results from the WTR‐sponsored clinical trials investigating interference between wireless technology and implanted cardia...

Scientific dispute resolution: A new model employing public health principles

Abstract A notable component in the Wireless Technology Research, L.L.C. (WTR) program to assess potential public health risks from wireless communication instruments is its inclusion of a rapid trigger for public health intervention should a risk be identified. To this end, the WTR performs active surveillance of cellular telephone users by conducting cohort and case‐control studies. To insure that not only risks identified through the WTRs research are assessed, the WTR also continually performs passive surveillance of research conducted elsewhere. This research is identified by word of mouth, by attending scientific conferences where new data are presented, by interacting with groups coordinating international research, by conducting a survey of planned and ongoing work, and by reviewing published literature. To date, no need for immediate intervention without further study has been identified. Two new areas of research, potential DNA breaks as assessed by the single cell gel assay and potential inter...

Wireless Phones And Health II

Over the last three decades, the legal and regulatory backdrop for the resolution of a number of various public health and environmental policy issues has caused a shift away from standard public health approaches and toward the generation of data geared to setting or refuting triggers for regulatory action and establishing or refuting legal Cause and effect (rather than geared to protecting public health and the environment). This article presents a case study of a pure public health approach for the resolution of issues regarding the potential public health impact of wireless communication technology. In choosing the public health paradigm for this problem, Wireless Technology Research, L.L.C., has rejected commonly held notions that risk assessment and risk management need to be separate and that adversarial and competing databases are necessary to achieve scientific balance, developing instead a new model for resolving scientific disputes that employs basic public health principles aimed at truly prot...

Radio waves, wireless signals, and public health: Is this the next silent spring?

the necessity of accurate dosimetric and especially of general near-field evaluations in wireless product development and certification will continuously grow in the coming years. In product development, farfield evaluations provide insufficient information for analyzing and optimizing the performance of transmitters operating in complex environments. Driven by growing public concern, new and more strict legal requirements regarding compliance with safety limits might be released in the near future which will demand enhanced and more precise dosimetric tools and procedures in order to minimize any unnecessary restrictions for the exploration of wireless technology. In addition, special fools will be required to analyze, develop, optimize, and verify exposure systems for bioexperiments addressing public health risk concern. the objective of this paper is to review the latest progress in near-field measurement technology and to discuss future needs.