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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 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 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.
SAFETY SAFETY
