Filter
Top Products
22
The FCC also regulates the base
stations that the wireless phone
networks rely upon. While these
base stations operate at higher
power than do the wireless phones
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 builtin 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.
Safety Guidelines