User's Manual

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wireless phones;
2. Design wireless phones in a way that minimizes any RF exposure to the user that is not necessary for
device function; and
3. Cooperate in providing users of wireless phones with complete and accurate information regarding possible
effects of wireless phone use on human health and safety.
The 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:
1. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
2. Environmental Protection Agency
3. Occupational Safety and Health Administration
4. National Telecommunications and Information Administration
The National Institutes of Health participates in some interagency working group activities as well. The 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 act to limit RF exposure. The FCC
relies on the FDA and other health agencies for safety questions about wireless phones.
The 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.
2. Do wireless phones pose a health hazard?
Current scientific evidence does not show that any health problems are associated with using wireless phones.
There is no proof, however, that wireless phones are absolutely safe. Wireless phones emit low levels of Radio
Frequency (RF) energy while operating microwave ranges (which also emit very low levels of RF when they are in
standby mode). While high levels of RF can produce health effects (by heating tissue), exposure to low-level RF
that does not produce heating effects results in no known adverse health effects. Many studies of low-level RF
exposures have not uncovered any biological effects. Although some studies have suggested that some biological
effects may occur, such findings have not been confirmed by additional research. In some cases, other researchers
have had difficulty in reproducing those studies, and/or determining the reasons for inconsistent results.
3. What are the results of the research done already?
The research conducted thus far has produced conflicting results, and many studies have suffered from flaws in
their research methods. Animal experiments investigating the effects of Radio Frequency (RF) energy exposures
characteristic of wireless phones have yielded conflicting results that often cannot be repeated in other laboratories.