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Using Your Treo 700P Smartphone 293
Regulatory information
Does the FCC maintain a database that includes
information on the location and technical parameters of
all the transmitting towers it regulates? Each of the FCC
Bureaus maintains its own licensing database system for the
service(s) it regulates (e.g., television, cellular service, satellite
earth stations.) The FCC issues two types of licenses: site specific
and market based. In the case of site specific licensed facilities,
technical operating information is collected from the licensee as
part of the licensing process. However, in the case of market
based licensing (e.g., PCS, cellular), the licensee is granted the
authority to operate a radio communications system in a
geographic area using as many facilities as are required, and the
licensee is not required to provide the FCC with specific location
and operating parameters of these facilities.
Information on site specific licensed facilities can be found in
the “General Menu Reports” (GenMen) at http://
gullfoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/genmen/index.hts.
The various FCC Bureaus also publish on at least a weekly
basis, bulk extracts of their licensing databases. Each licensing
database has its own unique file structure. These extracts consist
of multiple, very large files. The FCC's Office of Engineering and
Technology (OET) maintains an index to these databases at http:/
/www.fcc.gov/oet/info/database/fadb.html. Entry points into
the various databases include frequency, state/county, latitude/
longitude, call-sign and licensee name. For further information
on the Commission's existing databases, you can contact Donald
Campbell at dcampbel@fcc.gov or 202-418-2405.
Can local and state governmental bodies establish
limits for RF exposure? Although some local and state
governments have enacted rules and regulations about human
exposure to RF energy in the past, the Telecommunications Act
of 1996 requires the Federal Government to control human
exposure to RF emissions. In particular, Section 704 of the Act
states that, “No State or local government or instrumentality
thereof may regulate the placement, construction, and
modification of personal wireless service facilities on the basis of
the environmental effects of radio frequency emissions to the
extent that such facilities comply with the Commission's
regulations concerning such emissions.” Further information on
federal authority and FCC policy is available in a fact sheet from
the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau at
www.fcc.gov/wtb.
Do wireless smartphones pose a health hazard? The
available scientific evidence does not show that any health
problems are associated with using wireless smartphones. There
is no proof, however, that wireless smartphones are absolutely
safe. Wireless smartphones emit low levels of radiofrequency
energy (RF) in the microwave range while being used. They also
emit very low levels of RF when in the stand-by mode. Whereas
high levels of RF can produce health effects (by heating tissue),
exposure to low level RF that does not produce heating effects
causes no known adverse health effects. Many studies of low
level RF exposures have not found any biological effects. Some
studies have suggested that some biological effects may occur,
but such findings have not been confirmed by additional
research. In some cases, other researchers have had difficulty in
reproducing those studies, or in determining the reasons for
inconsistent results.
What is FDA's role concerning the safety of wireless
smartphones? Under the law, FDA does not review the safety
of radiation-emitting consumer products such as wireless
smartphones before they can be sold, as it does with new drugs
or medical devices. However, the agency has authority to take
action if wireless smartphones are shown to emit radiofrequency
energy (RF) at a level that is hazardous to the user. In such a case,
FDA could require the manufacturers of wireless smartphones to
notify users of the health hazard and to repair, replace or recall
the smartphones so that the hazard no longer exists.
Although the existing scientific data do not justify FDA
regulatory actions, FDA has urged the wireless smartphone
industry to take a number of steps, including the following:
• Support needed research into possible biological effects of RF
of the type emitted by wireless smartphones;
• Design wireless smartphones in a way that minimizes any RF
exposure to the user that is not necessary for device function;
and
• Cooperate in providing users of wireless smartphones with the
best possible information on possible effects of wireless
smartphone use on human health