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Support needed research into possible biological effects of RF
of the type emitted by wireless phones;
]
Design wireless phones in a way that minimizes any RF
exposure to the user that is not necessary for device function;
and
]
Cooperate in providing users of wireless phones with the best
possible information on possible effects of wireless phone use
on human health.
The FDA belongs to an interagency working group of the federal
agencies 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:
o National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
o Environmental Protection Agency
o Occupational Safety and Health Administration
o 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 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 far below the FCC safety limits.
4.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.
Animal experiments investigating the effects of radiofrequency
energy (RF) exposures characteristic of wireless phones have
yielded conflicting results that often cannot be repeated in other
laboratories. A few animal studies, however, have suggested that
low levels of RF could accelerate the development of cancer in
laboratory animals. However, many of the studies that showed
increased tumor development used animals that had been
genetically engineered or treated with cancer-causing chemicals
so as to be pre-disposed to develop cancer in the absence of RF
exposure. Other studies exposed the animals to RF for up to 22
hours per day. These conditions are not similar to the conditions
under which people use wireless phones, so we don’t know with
certainty what the results of such studies mean for human health.
Three large epidemiology studies have been published since
December 2000. Between them, the studies investigated any
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