Draft for Sony Ericsson -- Preliminary Copy
92
US Safety Guidelines
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.
What about wireless phone
interference with medical equipment?
Radiofrequency energy (RF) from wireless phones can
interact with some electronic devices. For this reason,
FDA helped develop a detailed test method to measure
electromagnetic interference (EMI) of implanted
cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators from wireless
telephones. This test method is now part of a standard
sponsored by the Association for the Advancement of
Medical instrumentation (AAMI). The final draft, a
joint effort by FDA, medical device manufacturers, and
many other groups, was completed in late 2000. This
standard will allow manufacturers to ensure that cardiac
pacemakers and defibrillators are safe from wireless
phone EMI.
FDA has tested hearing aids for interference from
handheld wireless phones and helped develop a
voluntary standard sponsored by the Institute of
Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). This
standard specifies test methods and performance
requirements for hearing aids and wireless phones so
that no interference occurs when a person uses a
“compatible” phone and a “compatible” hearing aid at
the same time. This standard was approved by the
IEEE in 2000.
FDA continues to monitor the use of wireless phones
for possible interactions with other medical devices.
Should harmful interference be found to occur, FDA
will conduct testing to assess the interference and work
to resolve the problem.
T606UG-R1.book Page 92 Monday, December 30, 2002 11:57 AM
