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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 radiofrequency energy (RF), 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?
Radiofrequency energy (RF) from wireless phones can interact with some
electronic devices. For this reason, the FDA helped develop a detailed
test method to measure electromagnetic 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,
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