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Section 12: Maintenance, Safety, and
Troubleshooting
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 does 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.
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.
What about wireless phone interference with medical equipment?
Radio frequency energy (RF) from wireless phones can interact with
some electronic devices. For this reason, the 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).
