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For Your Safety
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.
12. Where can I find additional information?
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