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Safety
wireless phones with the best possible
information on possible effects of wireless
phone use on human health.
The 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.
•
Occupational Safety and Health
•
Administration.
N ational Telecommunications and
•
Information Administration.
The National Institutes of Health participates
in some interagency working group
activities, as well. The FDA shares regulatory
responsibilities for wireless phones with the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
All phones that are sold in the United States
must comply with FCC safety guidelines that
limit RF exposure. The FCC relies on the
FDA and other health agencies for safety
questions about wireless phones. The FCC
also regulates the base stations that the
wireless phone networks rely upon. While
these base stations operate at higher power
than do the wireless phones themselves,
the RF exposures that people get from these
12
base stations are typically thousands of
times lower than those they can get from
wireless phones. Base stations are thus not
the subject of the safety questions discussed
in this document.
3. What kinds of phones are the subject
of this update?
The term "wireless phone" refers here to
handheld wireless phones with built-in
antennas, often called "cell", "mobile", or
"PCS" phones. These types of wireless
phones can expose the user to measurable
radiofrequency energy (RF) because of
the short distance between the phone and
the user's head. These RF exposures are
limited by FCC safety guidelines that were
developed with the advice of the 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 far
below the FCC safety limits.
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