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Appendix C
Consumer Update 83
individual’s cancer arose because of the phone, or whether it would have happened
anyway. A key question is whether the risk of getting a particular form of cancer is greater
among people who use mobile phones than among the rest of the population. One way to
answer that question is to compare the usage of mobile phones among people with brain
cancer with the use of mobile phones among appropriately matched people without brain
cancer. This is called a case-control study. The current case-control study of brain cancers
by the National Cancer Institute, as well as the follow-up research to be sponsored by
industry, will begin to generate this type of information.
What is FDA’s role concerning the safety of mobile phones?
Under the law, FDA does not review the safety of radiation-emitting consumer products
such as mobile phones before marketing, as it does with new drugs or medical devices.
However, the agency has authority to take action if mobile phones are shown to emit
radiation at a level that is hazardous to the user. In such a case, FDA could require the
manufacturers of mobile phones to notify users of the health hazard and to repair, replace
or recall the phones so that the hazard no longer exists.
Although the existing scientific data do not justify FDA regulatory actions at this time, FDA
has urged the mobile phone industry to take a number of steps to assure public safety.
The agency has recommended that the industry:
• support needed research into possible biological effects of RF of the type emitted by mobile
phones;
• design mobile phones in a way that minimizes any RF exposure to the user that is not
necessary for device function; and
• cooperate in providing mobile phone users with the best possible information on what is
known about possible effects of mobile phone use on human health.
At the same time, FDA belongs to an interagency working group of the federal agencies
that have responsibility for different aspects of mobile phone safety to ensure a
coordinated effort at the federal level. These agencies are:
• National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Federal Communications Commission
• Occupational Health and Safety Administration
• National Telecommunications and Information Administration
The National Institutes of Health also participates in this group.
In the absence of conclusive information about any possible risk, what
can concerned individuals do?
If there is a risk from these products — and at this point we do not know that there is — it
is probably very small. But if people are concerned about avoiding even potential risks,
there are simple steps they can take to do so. For example, time is a key factor in how
much exposure a person receives. Those persons who spend long periods of time on their
hand-held mobile phones could consider holding lengthy conversations on conventional
phones and reserving the hand-held models for shorter conversations or for situations
when other types of phones are not available.
People who must conduct extended conversations in their cars every day could switch to
a type of mobile phone that places more distance between their bodies and the source of
the RF, since the exposure level drops off dramatically with distance. For example, they
could switch to
• a mobile phone in which the antenna is located outside the vehicle,
• a hand-held phone with a built-in antenna connected to a different antenna mounted on the
outside of the car or built into a separate package, or
• a headset with a remote antenna to a mobile phone carried at the waist.
Again, the scientific data do not demonstrate that mobile phones are harmful. But if people
are concerned about the radiofrequency energy from these products, taking the simple
precautions outlined above can reduce any possible risk.