46
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
Safety Guidelines