User's Manual

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y If you must conduct extended conversations by wireless
phone every day, you could place more distance between
your body and the source of the RF, since the exposure
level drops off dramatically with distance.
For example, you could use a headset and carry the
wireless phone away from your body or use a
wireless phone connected to a remote antenna.
Again, the scientific data do not demonstrate that
wireless phones are harmful. But if you are
concerned about the RF exposure from these
products, you can use measures like those described
above to reduce your RF exposure from wireless
phone use.
10. What about children using wireless phones?
The scientific evidence does not show a danger to
users of wireless phones, including children and
teenagers. If you want to take steps to lower
exposure to radiofrequency energy (RF), the
measures described above would apply to children
and teenagers using wireless phones. Reducing the
time of wireless phone use and increasing the
distance between the user and the RF source will
reduce RF exposure.
Some groups sponsored by other national
governments have advised that children be
discouraged from using wireless phones at all. For
example, the government in the United Kingdom
distributed leaflets containing such a
recommendation in December 2000. They noted that
no evidence exists that using a wireless phone
causes brain tumors or other ill effects. Their
recommendation to limit wireless phone use by
children was strictly precautionary; it was not based
on scientific evidence that any health hazard exists.
11. What about wireless phone interference with
medical equipment?
Radiofrequency energy (RF) from wireless phones
can interact with some electronic devices. For this
reason, FDA helped develop a detailed test method
to measure electromagnetic interference (EMI) of
implanted cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators from
wireless telephones. This test method is now part of
a standard sponsored by the Association for the
Advancement of Medical instrumentation (AAMI).
The final draft, a joint effort by FDA, medical device
manufacturers, and many other groups, was
completed in late 2000. This standard will allow
manufacturers to ensure that cardiac pacemakers
and defibrillators are safe from wireless phone EMI.
FDA has tested hearing aids for interference from