User's Manual

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ţ Design wireless phones in a way that minimizes any RF exposure to the user that is not
necessary for device function; and
ţ Cooperate in providing users of 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:
ţ National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
ţ Environmental Protection Agency
ţ Occupational Safety and Health Administration
ţ National 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 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 Radio Frequency (RF) energy 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.