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Safety
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 energy (RF), 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 energy (RF) from wireless phones
can interact with some electronic devices. For this
reason, the FDA helped develop a detailed test
method to measure electromagnetic 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 for interference from handheld wireless phones
and helped develop a voluntary standard sponsored
by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
(IEEE). This standard specifies test methods and
performance requirements for hearing aids and
wireless phones so that no interference occurs
when a person uses a “compatible” phone and a
“compatible” hearing aid at the same time. This
standard was approved by the IEEE in 2000. The FDA