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Health and safety
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.
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3. What is FDA’s role concerning the safety of wireless
phones?
Under the law, FDA does not review the safety of
radiation emitting consumer products such as wireless
phones before they can be sold, as it does with new
drugs or medical devices. However, the agency has
authority to take action if wireless phones are shown
to emit radio frequency energy (RF) at a level that is
hazardous to the user. In such a case, FDA could
require the manufacturers of wireless phones to notify
users of the health hazard and to repair, replace or
recall the phones so that the hazard no longer exists.
Although the existing scientific data do not justify FDA
regulatory actions, FDA has urged the wireless phone
industry to take a number of steps, including the
following:
• Support needed research into possible biological
effects of RF of the type emitted by wireless
phones;
• Design wireless phones in a way that minimizes
any RF exposure to the user that is not
necessary for device function; and
• Cooperate in providing users of wireless phones
with the best possible information on possible
effects of wireless phone use on human health
FDA belongs to an interagency working group of the
federal agencies that have responsibility for different
aspects of RF safety to ensure coordinated efforts at
the federal level. The following agencies belong to this
working group:
• National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health
• Environmental Protection Agency Federal
Communications Commission
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration
• National Telecommunications and Information
Administration
• The National Institutes of Health participates in
some interagency working group activities, as
well.