Filter
Top Products
86
Safety Guidelines
consistency of measurements made at different laboratories
on the same phone. SAR is the measurement of the amount
of energy absorbed in tissue, either by the whole body or a
small part of the body. It is measured in watts/kg (or
milliwatts/g) of matter. This measurement is used to
determine whether a wireless phone complies with safety
guidelines.
9. What steps can I take to reduce my exposure to
radiofrequency energy from my wireless phone?
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 you
are concerned about avoiding even potential risks, you can
take a few simple steps to minimize your exposure to
radiofrequency energy (RF). Since time is a key factor in how
much exposure a person receives, reducing the amount of
time spent using a wireless phone will reduce RF exposure. If
you must conduct extended conversations by wireless phone
every day, you could place more distance between your body
and the source of the RF, since the exposure level drops off
dramatically with distance. For example, you could use a
headset and carry the wireless phone away from your body
or use a wireless phone connected to a remote antenna.
Again, the scientific data do not demonstrate that wireless
phones are harmful. But if you are concerned about the RF
exposure from these products, you can use measures like
those described above to reduce your RF exposure from
wireless phone use.
10. What about children using wireless phones?
The scientific evidence does not show a danger to users of
wireless phones, including children and teenagers. If you
want to take steps to lower exposure to radiofrequency
energy (RF), the measures described above would apply to
children and 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.
11. What about wireless phone interference with medical
equipment?
Radio frequency energy (RF) from wireless phones can
interact with some electronic devices. For this reason, the
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