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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 radio frequency
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 radio frequency 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.