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Safety
113
Safety
children and teenagers. If you
want to take steps to lower
exposure to Radio Frequency
(RF) energy, the measures
described above would apply
to children and teenagers using
wireless phones. Reducing the
time of wireless phone use and
increasing the distance between
the user and the RF source will
reduce RF exposure.
Some groups sponsored by
other national governments
have advised that children
be discouraged from using
wireless phones at all. For
example, the government in
the United Kingdom distributed
leaflets containing such a
recommendation in December
2000. They noted that no
evidence exists that using a
wireless phone causes brain
tumors or other ill effects. Their
recommendation to limit wireless
phone use by children was
strictly precautionary; it was not
based on scientific evidence that
any health hazard exists.
11. What about wireless phone
interference with medical
equipment?
Radio Frequency (RF) energy
from wireless phones can
interact with some electronic
devices. For this reason, the
FDA helped develop a detailed
test method to measure Electro
Magnetic Interference (EMI) of
implanted cardiac pacemakers
and defibrillators from wireless
telephones. This test method
is now part of a standard
sponsored by the Association
for the Advancement of Medical
Instrumentation (AAMI). The final
draft, a joint effort by the FDA,
medical device manufacturers,
and many other groups, was
completed in late 2000. This
standard will allow manufacturers
to ensure that cardiac
pacemakers and defibrillators are
safe from wireless phone EMI.
The FDA has tested hearing aids
for interference from handheld
wireless phones and helped
develop a voluntary standard
sponsored by the Institute
of Electrical and Electronic
Engineers (IEEE). This standard
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