User's Manual

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