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VX4400
Safety Guidelines
FDA Consumer Update
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center
for Devices and Radiological Health Consumer
Update on Mobile Phones.
1. Do wireless phones pose a health hazard?
The available scientific evidence does not show that any
health problems are associated with using wireless
phones. There is no proof, however, that wireless phones
are absolutely safe. Wireless phones emit low levels of
radiofrequency energy (RF) in the microwave range
while being used. They also emit very low levels of RF
when in the standby mode. Whereas high levels of RF
can produce health effects (by heating tissue), exposure to
low level RF that does not produce heating effects causes
no known adverse health effects. Many studies of low
level RF exposures have not found any biological effects.
Some studies have suggested that some biological effects
may occur, but such findings have not been confirmed by
additional research. In some cases, other researchers have
had difficulty in reproducing those studies, or in
determining the reasons for inconsistent results.
2. What is the FDA's role concerning the safety of
wireless phones?
Under the law, the FDA does not review the safety of
radiation-emitting consumer products such as wireless
phones before they can be sold, as it does with new drugs
or medical devices. However, the agency has authority to
take action if wireless phones are shown to emit
radiofrequency energy (RF) at a level that is hazardous to
the user. In such a case, the FDA could require the
manufacturers of wireless phones to notify users of the
health hazard and to repair, replace, or recall the phones
so that the hazard no longer exists.
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Safety guidelines
Although the existing scientific data do not justify FDA
regulatory actions, the FDA has urged the wireless phone
industry to take a number of steps, including the
following:
G
Support needed research into possible biological
effects of RF of the type emitted by wireless phones;
G
Design wireless phones in a way that minimizes any
RF exposure to the user that is not necessary for device
function; and
G
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 FDAand 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
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