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coordinated efforts at the federal level. The following agencies
belong to this working group:
ᮣ
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
ᮣ
Environmental Protection Agency
ᮣ
Federal Communications Commission
ᮣ
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
ᮣ
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
The National Institutes of Health participates in some interagency
working group activities, as well.
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 limit
RF exposure. FCC relies on FDA and other health agencies for safety
questions about wireless phones.
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 primary subject of the safety questions discussed in this
document.
18. What kinds of phones are the subject of this update?
The term “wireless phone”refers here to hand-held wireless phones
with built-in antennas, often called “cell,”“mobile,”or “PCS”phones.
These types of wireless phones can expose the user to measurable
radiofrequency energy (RF) because of the short distance between
the phone and the user’s head. These RF exposures are limited by
Federal Communications Commission safety guidelines that were
developed with the advice of FDA and other federal health and safety
agencies. When the phone is located at greater distances from the
user, the exposure to RF is drastically lower because a person's RF
exposure decreases rapidly with increasing distance from the source.
The so-called "cordless phones," which have a base unit connected to
the telephone wiring in a house, typically operate at far lower power
levels, and thus produce RF exposures well within the FCC's
compliance limits.
19. What are the results of the research done already?
The research done thus far has produced conflicting results, and
many studies have suffered from flaws in their research methods.
Section 4: Safety Guidelines and Warranty Information
4A: Safety 132