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Health and Safety Information 73
What kinds of phones are the subject of this update?
The term wireless phone refers here to hand-held wireless phones
with built-in antennas, often called "cell," "mobile," or "PCS"
phones. These types of wireless phones can expose the user to
measurable radio frequency energy (RF) because of the short
distance between the phone and the user's head. These RF
exposures are limited by Federal Communications Commission safety
guidelines that were developed with the advice of FDA and other
federal health and safety agencies.
When the phone is located at greater distances from the user, the
exposure to RF is drastically lower because a person's RF exposure
decreases rapidly with increasing distance from the source. The so-
called "cordless phones," which have a base unit connected to the
telephone wiring in a house, typically operate at far lower power
levels, and thus produce RF exposures well within the FCC's
compliance limits.
Do wireless phones pose a health hazard?
The available scientific evidence does not show that any health
problems are associated with using wireless phones. There is no
proof, however, that wireless phones are absolutely safe. Wireless
phones emit low levels of radio frequency 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
r100.book Page 73 Monday, November 30, 2009 10:40 AM