User's Manual

case, FDA could require the m anufact urers of wireless phones to notify
users of t he health hazard and t o repair, replace or recall the phones so
that t he hazard no longer exists.
Alt hough t he exist ing scient ific dat a do not justify FDA regulatory act ions,
FDA has urged t he wireless phone indust ry t o t ake a num ber of st eps,
including the following:
 “ Support needed research int o possible biological effect s of RF of
the type em it ted by wireless phones;
 “ Design wireless phones in a way t hat m inim izes any RF exposure
to the user that is not necessary for device funct ion; and
 “ Cooperate in providing users of wireless phones with t he best
possible inform ation on possible effect s of wireless phone use on
hum an health.
FDA belongs to an int eragency working group of t he federal agencies that
have responsibilit y for different aspect s of RF safety to ensure coordinated
efforts at the federal level. The following agencies belong to this working
group:
 “ Nat ional I nst itute for Occupat ional Safety and Healt h
 “ Environm ent al Prot ection Agency
 “ Federal Com m unications Com m ission
 “ Occupat ional Safety and Healt h Adm inist ration
 “ Nat ional Telecom m unications and I nform ation Adm inist ration
The Nat ional I nst itutes of Healt h part icipat es in som e int eragency working
group act ivit ies, as well.
FDA shares regulatory responsibilities for wireless phones wit h the Federal
Com m unications Com m ission (FCC). All phones that are sold in t he United
St ates m ust com ply wit h FCC safety guidelines that lim it RF exposure.
FCC relies on FDA and other healt h agencies for safet y quest ions about
wireless phones.
FCC also regulates the base stat ions that t he wireless phone networks
rely upon. While t hese base st at ions operat e at higher power t han do t he
wireless phones them selves, t he RF exposures that people get from these
base st at ions are t ypically t housands of t im es lower t han those they can
get from wireless phones. Base st ations are thus not the prim ary subject
of t he safety quest ions discussed in this docum ent.
W hat a re the re sults of t he resea rch done already?
The research done thus far has produced conflict ing result s, and m any
studies have suffered from flaws in t heir research m et hods. Anim al
experim ents invest igat ing the effect s of radio frequency energy (RF)
exposures characterist ic of wireless phones have yielded conflict ing
results that oft en cannot be repeated in other laboratories. A few anim al
studies, however, have suggest ed that low levels of RF could accelerate
the developm ent of cancer in laboratory anim als. However, m any of the
studies that showed increased t um or developm ent used anim als that had
been genetically engineered or t reat ed with cancer-causing chem icals so