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For Your Safety 146
could use a headset and carry the wireless device away from your body or use a
wireless device connected to a remote antenna. Again, the scientific data does not
demonstrate that wireless devices are harmful. But if you are concerned about the
RF exposure from these products, you can use measures like those described above
to reduce your RF exposure from wireless device use.
10. What about children using wireless devices?
The scientific evidence does not show a danger to users of wireless devices,
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 devices. Reducing the time of wireless
device 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 devices 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 device causes brain tumors
or other ill effects. Their recommendation to limit wireless device use by children
was strictly precautionary; it was not based on scientific evidence that any health
hazard exists.
11. What about wireless device interference with medical
equipment?
Radio Frequency (RF) energy from wireless devices 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 device EMI.
The FDA has tested hearing aids for interference from handheld wireless
devices 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 devices so that no
interference occurs when a person uses a “compatible” device and a “compatible”
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