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Safety Guidelines
10.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 (RF) energy,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.
11.What about wireless phone interference with
medical equipment?
Radio Frequency (RF) energy from wireless phones
can interact with some electronic devices.For this
reason,the FDA helped develop a detailed test
method to measure Electro Magnetic 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 the 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.
The 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.