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Section 4: Safety Guidelines and Warranty Information
4A: Safety 124
23. 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 radiofrequency 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.
24. What about wireless phone interference with medical
equipment?
Radiofrequency energy (RF) from wireless phones can interact
with some electronic devices. For this reason, 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 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.
FDA has tested hearing aids for interference from hand-held
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.
FDA continues to monitor the use of wireless phones for
possible interactions with other medical devices. Should