Scientists studying the effects of radiation from cell phone frequency emissions say there’s evidence that the technology can cause cancerous tumors in the heart, but that the needed levels of radiation are much higher than what people are currently and frequently exposed to.

National Toxicology Program senior scientist Dr. John Boucher spoke with reporters in a media call Friday ahead of the public release of draft study of his agency’s 10-year, $25 million study of the effects of cellphone radiation emission on rats and mice.

The two reports are available for view and public comment on the NTP website. In March, external experts will review both reports to determine if they agree with the conclusions of the scientists.

One of the most surprising findings, Dr. Boucher said, was the growth of malignant schwannoma, a cancerous tumor in the tissue of the heart that occurred particularly in male rats.

Yet he cautioned that the level of radiation was much higher than the typical cell phone emits and a person would receive.

“The typical cell phone call has Radio Frequency Radiation Emission that are very, very, much lower than what we studied,” he said.

“Typical cell phone use is not going to be directly related to the kind of exposure that we used in these studies.”

The type of radiation the test rodent were exposed to was likened to the maximum amount of radiation a person could experience during a call in a poor connection situation — with the cell phone achieving higher radiation emission as it struggles to connect to signal towers.

The researches evaluated this radiation level on the rodents over nine hours a day for over two years, Dr. Boucher said.

“So this is a situation obviously that people are not going to be encountering,” but it does provide scientists with evidence of a link between certain levels of this type of radiation and biological changes, he said.

“So I think the message is that typical cell phone use is not going to be directly related to the kind of exposure that we used in these studies.”

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