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Guidelines for Safe and Efficient Use 9
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health hazard and to repair, replace or recall the phones so that the
hazard no longer exists.
Although the existing scientific data do not justify FDA regulatory
actions at this time, FDA has urged the mobile phone industry to
take a number of steps to assure public safety. The agency has
recommended that the industry:
• support needed research into possible biological effects of RF of
the type emitted by mobile phones;
• design mobile phones in a way that minimizes any RF exposure to
the user that is not necessary for device function; and
• cooperate in providing mobile phone users with the best
possible information on what is known about possible effects of
mobile phone use on human health.
At the same time, FDA belongs to an interagency working group of
the federal agencies that have responsibility for different aspects of
mobile phone safety to ensure a coordinated effort at the federal
level. These agencies are:
• National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Federal Communications Commission
• Occupational Health and Safety Administration
• National Telecommunications and Information Administration
The National Institutes of Health also participates in this group.
In the absence of conclusive information about any
possible risk, what can concerned individuals do?
If there is a risk from these products – and at this point we do not
know that there is – it is probably very small. But if people are
concerned about avoiding even potential risks, there are simple steps
they can take to do so. For example, time is a key factor in how
much exposure a person receives. Those persons who spend long
periods of time on their hand-held mobile phones could consider
holding lengthy conversations on conventional phones and reserving
the hand-held models for shorter conversations or for situations
when other types of phones are not available.
People who must conduct extended conversations in their cars every
day could switch to a type of mobile phone that places more distance
between their bodies and the source of the RF, since the exposure
level drops off dramatically with distance. For example, they could
switch to:
• a mobile phone in which the antenna is located outside the
vehicle,
• a hand-held phone with a built-in antenna connected to
a different antenna mounted on the outside of the car or built
into a separate package, or
• a headset with a remote antenna to a mobile phone carried at
the waist.
Again, the scientific data do not
demonstrate that mobile phones are
harmful. But if people are concerned about the radiofrequency
energy from these products, taking the simple precautions outlined
above can reduce any possible risk.