Personal Communicator User's Guide

FDA Update for Mobile Phones
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follow-up research to be sponsored by industry, will begin to generate this type of
information.
What is FDA's role concerning the safety of mobile phones?
Under the law, FDA does not review the safety of radiation-emitting consumer products
such as mobile phones before marketing, as it does with new drugs or medical devices.
However, the agency has authority to take action if mobile phones are shown to emit
radiation at a level that is hazardous to the user. In such a case, FDA could require the
manufacturers of mobile phones to notify users of the health hazard and to repair,
replace or recall the phones so that the hazard no longer exists.
Although the existing scientific data do not justify FDA regulatory actions at this time,
FDA has urged the mobile phone industry to take a number of steps to assure public
safety. The agency has recommended that the industry:
• support needed research into possible biological effects of RF of the type emitted
by mobile phones;
• design mobile phones in a way that minimizes any RF exposure to the user that is
not necessary for device function; and
• cooperate in providing mobile phone users with the best possible information on
what is known about possible effects of mobile phone use on human health.
• At the same time, FDA belongs to an interagency working group of the federal
agencies that have responsibility for different aspects of mobile phone safety to
ensure a coordinated effort at the federal level. These agencies are: