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Consumer update
Consumer update
Consumer update
Consumer Update on Mobile Phones
(Published by U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Devices and Radiological
Health, October 20, 1999.)
FDA has been receiving inquiries about the safety of mobile phones, including cellular
phones and PCS phones. The following summarizes what is known—and what remains
unknown—about whether these products can pose a hazard to health, and what can be
done to minimize any potential risk. This information may be used to respond to
questions.
Why the concern?
Mobile phones emit low levels of radiofrequency energy (i.e., radiofrequency radiation)
in the microwave range while being used. They also emit very low levels of
radiofrequency energy (RF), considered non-significant, when in the stand-by mode. It is
well known that high levels of RF can produce biological damage through heating effects
(this is how your microwave oven is able to cook food). However, it is not known
whether, to what extent, or through what mechanism, lower levels of RF might cause
adverse health effects as well. Although some research has been done to address these
questions, no clear picture of the biological effects of this type of radiation has emerged
to date. Thus, the available science does not allow us to conclude that mobile phones are
absolutely safe, or that they are unsafe. However, the available scientific evidence does
not demonstrate any adverse health effects associated with the use of mobile phones.
What kind of phones are in question?
Questions have been raised about hand-held mobile phones, the kind that have a built-in
antenna that is positioned close to the user’s head during normal telephone conversation.
These types of mobile phones are of concern because of the short distance between the
phone’s antenna — the primary source of the RF — and the person’s head. The exposure
to RF from mobile phones in which the antenna is located at greater distances from the
user (on the outside of a car, for example) is drastically lower than that from hand-held
phones, because a person’s RF exposure decreases rapidly with distance from the source.
The safety of so-called “cordless phones”, which have a base unit connected to the
telephone wiring in a house and which operate at far lower power levels and frequencies,
has not been questioned.
How much evidence is there that handheld mobile
phones might be harmful?
Briefly, there is not enough evidence to know for sure, either way; however, research
efforts are on-going. The existing scientific evidence is conflicting and many of the
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