User's Manual Part 3

replace or recall the phones so that the hazard no longer exists.
Although the existing scientific data do not justify FDA regulatory
actions, FDA has urged the wireless phone industry to take a
number of steps, including the following:
•
Support needed research into possible biological effects of RF of
the type emitted by wireless phones;
•
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 thefederal
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 interagency
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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