User's Manual

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?