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Health and safety information
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According to FTC, these defendants lacked a reasonable
basis to substantiate their claim.
9. What about wireless phone interference with
medical equipment?
Radio frequency 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.
10.What are the results of the research done already?
The research done thus far has produced conflicting
results, and many studies have suffered from flaws in
their research methods. Animal experiments
investigating the effects of radio frequency energy (RF)
exposures characteristic of wireless phones have
yielded conflicting results that often cannot be repeated
in other laboratories. A few animal studies, however,
have suggested that low levels of RF could accelerate
the development of cancer in laboratory animals.