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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:
] National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health
] Environmental Protection Agency
] Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (Administración de la
seguridad y salud laborales)
] Occupational Safety and Health
Administration
] 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 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.
3. What kinds of phones are the
subject of this update?
The term ‘wireless phone’refers here to
handheld 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 FCC safety guidelines that were
developed with the advice of the FDA
and other federal health and safety
agencies. When the phone is located at
Safety Guidelines
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