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• Design wireless phones in a way that minimizes any RF exposure to the
user that it is not necessary for device function; and
• Cooperate in providing users of wireless phones with the best possible
information on possible effects of wireless phone use on human health.
FDA belongs to a interagency working group of the federal agencies that have
responsibility for different aspects of RF safety to ensure coordinated efforts at
the federal level. The following agencies belong to this working group:
• National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Federal Communications Committee
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration
The National Institutes of Health participates in some interagency working
group activities, as well.
FDA shares regulatory responsibilities about wireless phones with the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC). All phones that are sold in the United
States must comply with FCC safety guidelines that limit RF exposure. FCC relies
on FDA and other health agencies for safety questions about wireless phones.
FCC also regulates the base stations that the wireless phone networks rely
upon. While these base stations operate at higher power than do the wireless
phones themselves, the wireless exposures that people get from these base
stations are typically thousands of times lower than those they get from wireless
phones. Base stations are thus not the subject of the safety questions discussed
in this document.
What kinds of phones are the subject of this update?
The term “wireless phones” refers here to hand-held wireless phones with
built-in antennas, often called “cell,” “mobile,” or “PCS”. These types of
wireless phones can expose the user to measurable radio frequency energy