User's Manual

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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
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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.
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3. What kinds of phones are the subjects 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 that were developed with the
advice of 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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4. What are the results of the research done already?
The research done thus far has produced conflicting results, and many studies have
suffered from flaws in their research methods. Animal experiments investigating the
effects of radiofrequency energy (RF) exposures characteristic of wireless phones have