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Appendix C: Consumer Update on Wireless
Phones
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
1. What kinds of phones are the subject of this
update?
The term wireless phone refers here to hand-held
wireless phones with built-in antennas, often called
cell, mobile, or PCS phones. These types of wireless
phones can expose the user to measurable
radiofrequency energy (RF) because of the short
distance between the phone and the user s head.
These 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. The 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.
2. 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
phones emit low levels of radiofrequency energy (RF)
in the microwave range while being used. They 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 researchers have had difficulty in
reproducing those studies, or in determining the
reasons for inconsistent results.
3. What is FDA’s role concerning the safety of
wireless phones?
Under the law, 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 radiofrequency energy (RF)
at a level that is hazardous to the user. In such a
case, 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
