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SAFETY INFORMATION
teenagers using wireless phones. Reducing the time of wireless phone use and increasing the distance between the user and
the RF source will reduce RF exposure.
Some groups sponsored by other national governments have advised that children be discouraged from using wireless
phones at all. For example, the government in the United Kingdom distributed leaflets containing such a recommendation in
December 2000. They noted that no evidence exists that using a wireless phone causes brain tumors or other ill effects. Their
recommendation to limit wireless phone use by children was strictly precautionary; it was not based on scientific evidence that
any health hazard exists.
What about wireless phone interference with medical equipment?
Radiofrequency energy (RF) from wireless phones can interact with some electronic devices. For this reason, FDA helped
develop a detailed test method to measure electromagnetic interference (EMI) of implanted cardiac pacemakers and
defibrillators from wireless telephones. This test method is now part of a standard sponsored by the Association for the
Advancement of Medical instrumentation (AAMI). The final draft, a joint effort by FDA, medical device manufacturers, and
many other groups, was completed in late 2000. This standard will allow manufacturers to ensure that cardiac pacemakers and
defibrillators are safe from wireless phone EMI.
FDA has tested hearing aids for interference from handheld wireless phones and helped develop a voluntary standard
sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). This standard specifies test methods and performance
requirements for hearing aids and wireless phones so that that no interference occurs when a person uses a “compatible” phone