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 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
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