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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 the 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. The 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 no interference occurs when a person uses a
“compatible” phone and a “compatible” hearing aid at the
same time. This standard was approved by the IEEE in 2000.
The FDA continues to monitor the use of wireless phones for
possible interactions with other medical devices. Should harmful
interference be found to occur, the FDA will conduct testing to
assess the interference and work to resolve the problem.
12. Where can I find additional information?
For additional information, please refer to the following resources:
FDA web page on wireless phones
(http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/phones/index.html)
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) RF Safety Program
(http://www.fcc.gov/oet/rfsafety)
International Commission on Non-lonizing Radiation Protection
(http://www.icnirp.de)
World Health Organization (WHO) International EMF Project
(http://www.who.int/emf)
National Radiological Protection Board (UK)
(http://www.nrpb.org.uk/)
Safety
Safety
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 radio frequency 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
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