73
Safety
9. What steps can I take to reduce my exposure to
radio frequency energy from my wireless phone?
If there is a risk from these products — and at this
point we do not know that there is — it is probably
very small. But if you are concerned about avoiding
even potential risks, you can take a few simple steps
to minimize your exposure to radio frequency energy
(RF). Since time is a key factor in how much
exposure a person receives, reducing the amount of
time spent using a wireless phone will reduce RF
exposure. If you must conduct extended
conversations by wireless phone every day, you
could place more distance between your body and
the source of the RF, since the exposure level drops
off dramatically with distance. For example, you
could use a headset and carry the wireless phone
away from your body or use a wireless phone
connected to a remote antenna. Again, the scientific
data do not demonstrate that wireless phones are
harmful. But if you are concerned about the RF
exposure from these products, you can use
measures like those described above to reduce your
RF exposure from wireless phone use.
10. What about children using wireless phones?
The scientific evidence does not show a danger to
users of wireless phones, including children and
teenagers. If you want to take steps to lower
exposure to radio frequency energy (RF), the
measures described above would apply to children
and teenagers using wireless phones. Reducing the
time of wireless phone use and increasing the
distance between the user and the RF source will
reduce RF exposure. Some groups sponsored by
other national governments have advised that
children be discouraged from using wireless phones
at all. For example, the government in the United
Kingdom distributed leaflets containing such a
recommendation in December 2000. They noted that
no evidence exists that using a wireless phone
causes brain tumors or other ill effects. Their
recommendation to limit wireless phone use by
children was strictly precautionary; it was not based
on scientific evidence that any health hazard exists.
