User's Manual

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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 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