31.5.02
10-S46 FDA.fm
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U.S. FDA
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA)
Center for Devices and Radiological Health
Consumer Update on Mobile Phones
FDA has been receiving inquiries about the safety of
mobile phones, including cellular phones and PCS phones. The following
summarizes what is know — and what remains unknown — about whether
these products can pose a hazard to health, and what can be done to
minimize any potential risk. This information may be used to respond
to questions.
Why the concern?
Mobile phones emit low levels of radio frequency energy (i.e., radio frequency
radiation) in the microwave range while being used. They also emit very low
levels of radio frequency energy (RF), considered non-significant, when in the
stand-by mode. It is well known that high levels of RF can produce biological
damage through heating effects (this is how your microwave oven is able to
cook food). However, it is not known whether, to what extent, or through what
mechanism, lower levels of RF might cause adverse health effects as well.
Although some research has been done to address these questions, no clear
picture of the biological effects of this type of radiation has emerged to date.
Thus, the available science does not allow us to conclude that mobile phones
are absolutely safe, or that they are unsafe. However, the available scientific
evidence does not demonstrate adverse health effects associated with the
use of mobile phones.
What kinds of phones are in question?
Questions have been raised about hand-held mobile phones, the kind that
have a built-in antenna that is positioned close to the user's head during
normal telephone conversation. These types of mobile phones are of concern
because of the short distance between the phone's antenna — the primary
source of the RF — and the person's head. The exposure to RF from mobile
phones in which the antenna is located at greater distances from the user (on
the outside of a car, for example) is drastically lower than that from hand-held
phones, because a person's RF exposure decreases rapidly with distance
from the source. The safety of so-called “cordless phones,” which have a
base unit connected to the telephone wiring in a house and which operate at
far lower power levels and frequencies, has not been questioned.
