Health and Safety Information
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Health and Safety Information
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researchers have had difficulty in reproducing those
studies, or in determining the reasons for inconsistent
results.
What is the FDA’s role concerning the
safety of wireless phones?
Under the law, the FDA does not review the safety of
radiation-emitting consumer products such as wireless
phones before they can be sold, as it does with new
drugs or medical devices. However, the agency has
authority to take action if wireless phones are shown to
emit radio frequency energy (RF) at a level that is
hazardous to the user. In such a case, the FDA could
require the manufacturers of wireless phones to notify
users of the health hazard and to repair, replace or recall
the phones so that the hazard no longer exists.
Although the existing scientific data do not justify FDA
regulatory actions, FDA has urged the wireless phone
industry to take a number of steps, including the
following:
• Support needed research into possible biological
effects of RF of the type emitted by wireless phones;
• Design wireless phones in a way that minimizes any
RF exposure to the user that is not necessary for
device function; and
• Cooperate in providing users of wireless phones
with the best possible information on possible effects
of wireless phone use on human health.
phones can expose the user to measurable radio
frequency energy (RF) because of the short distance
between the phone and the user’s head. ese RF
exposures are limited by Federal Communications
Commission safety guidelines that were developed with
the advice of FDA and other federal health and safety
agencies. When the phone is located at greater distances
from the user, the exposure to RF is drastically lower
because a person’s RF exposure decreases rapidly with
increasing distance from the source. e so-called
“cordless phones,” which have a base unit connected to
the telephone wiring in a house, typically operate at far
lower power levels, and thus produce RF exposures well
within the FCC’s compliance limits.
Do wireless phones pose a health hazard?
e available scientific evidence does not show that any
health problems are associated with using wireless
phones. ere is no proof, however, that wireless phones
are absolutely safe. Wireless phones emit low levels of
radio frequency energy (RF) in the microwave range
while being used. ey also emit very low levels of RF
when in the stand-by mode. Whereas high levels of RF
can produce health effects (by heating tissue), exposure
to low level RF that does not produce heating effects
causes no known adverse health effects. Many studies of
low level RF exposures have not found any biological
effects. Some studies have suggested that some biological
effects may occur, but such findings have not been
confirmed by additional research. In some cases, other
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