97
Safety
Counsel on Radiation Protection
and Measurement (NCRP) and
the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE). In
both cases, the
recommendations were
developed by scientific and
engineering experts drawn from
industry, government, and
academia after extensive reviews
of the scientific literature related
to the biological effects of RF
energy.
The exposure Limit for wireless
mobile phones employs a unit of
measurement known as the
Specific Absorption Rate, or SAR.
The SAR is a measure of the rate
of absorption of RF energy by
the human body expressed in
units of watts per kilogram
(W/kg). The FCC requires
wireless phones to comply with a
safety limit of 1.6 watts per
kilogram (1.6 W/kg). The FCC
exposure limit incorporates a
substantial margin of safety to
give additional protection to the
public and to account for any
variations in measurements.
Tests for SAR are conducted
using standard operating
positions specified by the FCC
with the phone transmitting at its
highest certified power level in all
tested frequency bands.
Although SAR is determined at
the highest certified power level,
the actual SAR level of the phone
while operating can be well below
the maximum value. Because the
phone is designed to operate at
multiple power levels to use only
the power required to reach the
network, in general, the closer
you are to a wireless base station
antenna, the lower the power
output.
Before a phone model is available
for sale to the public, it must be