Filter
Top Products
Appendix C: Consumer Update on Wireless Phones
177
Appendix C: Consumer Update on
Wireless Phones
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
1. 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.
2. 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