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For Your Safety 153
10. What about children using wireless phones?
The scientific evidence does not show a danger to users of wireless phones,
including 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 specifies test methods
and performance requirements for hearing aids and wireless phones so that no
interference occurs when a person uses a “compatible” phone and a “compatible”
hearing aid at the same time. This standard was approved by the IEEE in 2000.
The FDA continues to monitor the use of wireless phones for possible interactions
with other medical devices. Should harmful interference be found to occur, the FDA
will conduct testing to assess the interference and work to resolve the problem.
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