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15
Although the existing scientific data do not justify FDA regulatory actions, the FDA has urged the wireless phone
industry to take a number of steps, including the following:
• Support needed research into possible biological effects of RF of the type emitted by wireless phones;
• Design wireless phones in a way that minimizes any RF exposure to the user that is not necessary for device
function; and
• Cooperate in providing of wireless phones with the best possible information on possible effects of wireless
phone use on human health.
The FDA belongs to an 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
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Administración de la seguridad y salud laborales)
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration
• National Telecommunications and Information Administration
The National Institutes of Health participates in some interagency working group activities, as well.
The FDA shares regulatory responsibilities for 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. The FCC relies on the FDA and other health agencies for safety questions about wireless phones.
The 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 RF exposures that people get from these
base stations are typically thousands of times lower than those they can get from wireless phones. Base stations
are thus not the subject of the safety questions discussed in this document.
3. What kinds of phones are the subject of this update?
The term ‘wireless phone’ refers here to handheld wireless phones with builtin antennas, often called ‘cell’,
‘mobile’, or ‘PCS’ phones. These types of wireless phones can expose the user to measurable radiofrequency
energy (RF) because of the short distance between the phone and the user’s head. These RF exposures are
limited by FCC safety guidelines that were developed with the advice of the 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 far below the FCC safety limits.
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