Section 15: Health and Safety Information 151
Section 15: Health and Safety Information
Topics Covered
• Health and Safety Information
This section outlines the safety precautions associated with using your phone. These
safety precautions should be followed to safely use your phone.
Health and Safety Information
Exposure to Radio Frequency (RF) Signals
Certification Information (SAR)
Your wireless phone is a radio transmitter and receiver. It is designed and
manufactured not to exceed the exposure limits for radio frequency (RF) energy set
by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the U.S. government. These
FCC exposure limits are derived from the recommendations of two expert
organizations, the National Counsel on Radiation Protection and Measurement
(NCRP) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). In both cases,
the recommendations were developed by scientific and engineering experts drawn
from industry, government, and academia after extensive reviews of the scientific
literature related to the biological effects of RF energy.
The exposure limit set by the FCC for wireless mobile phones employs a unit of
measurement known as the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR). The SAR is a measure
of the rate of absorption of RF energy by the human body expressed in units of watts
per kilogram (W/kg). The FCC requires wireless phones to comply with a safety limit
of 1.6 watts per kilogram (1.6 W/kg). The FCC exposure limit incorporates a
substantial margin of safety to give additional protection to the public and to account
for any variations in measurements.
SAR tests are conducted using standard operating positions accepted by the FCC
with the phone transmitting at its highest certified power level in all tested frequency
bands. Although the SAR is determined at the highest certified power level, the
actual SAR level of the phone while operating can be well below the maximum value.
This is because the phone is designed to operate at multiple power levels so as to
use only the power required to reach the network. In general, the closer you are to a
wireless base station antenna, the lower the power output.