User's Manual

FDA consumer update

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center

for Devices and Radiological Health Consumer Update

on Mobile Phones:

1. What is the FDA's role concerning the safety

of wireless phones?

Under the law, the FDA does not review the safety of

radiation-emitting consumer products such as wireless

phones before they can be sold, as it does with new

drugs or medical devices. However, the agency has

authority to take action if wireless phones are shown to

emit Radio Frequency (RF) energy at a level that is

hazardous to the user. In such a case, the FDA could

require the manufacturers of wireless 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 does not justify FDA

regulatory actions, the FDA has urged the wireless

phone industry to take a number of steps, including the

following:

1. Support current and future research regarding

possible biological effects of the type of RF

emitted by 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