Filter
Top Products
Safety
does 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 (RF) energy, 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 (RF) energy from
wireless phones can interact with
some electronic devices. For this
reason, the FDA helped develop a
detailed test method to measure
Electro Magnetic Interference
(EMI) of implanted cardiac
pacemakers and 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
138