User Guide

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• 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 inter-agency working group activities, as
well. 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. FCC relies on FDA and other health agencies for safety questions
about wireless phones. 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 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 radiofrequency 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