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118
For Your Safety
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 users 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
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.
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