17
Safety Guidelines
is not liable for damage due to the loss
of data.
• When you use the phone in public
places, set the ring tone to vibration so
as not to disturb others.
• Do not turn your phone on or off when
putting it near your ear.
• Your phone is an electronic device that
generates heat during normal operation.
Extremely prolonged, direct skin contact
in the absence of adequate ventilation
may result in discomfort or minor burns.
Therefore, use care when handling
your phone during or immediately after
operation.
FDA Consumer Update
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Centre for Devices and Radiological Health
Consumer Update on Mobile Phones.
1. Do wireless phones pose a health
hazard?
The available scientific evidence does
not show that any health problems are
associated with using wireless phones.
There is no proof, however, that wireless
phones are absolutely safe. Wireless
17
phones emit low levels of radio frequency
energy (RF) in the microwave range
while being used. They also emit very
low levels of RF when in the standby
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 researchers have had
difficulty in reproducing those studies, or
in determining the reasons for inconsistent
results.
2. 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, the 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 of wireless
phones with the best possible
information on possible effects of
wireless phone use on human health.
The FDA belongs to an interagency
working group of the federal agencies that
have responsibility for different aspects of
RF safety to ensure coordinated efforts at
the federal level. The following agencies
belong to this working group:
