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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:
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National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
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Environmental Protection Agency
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration
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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 built-in antennas, often called
“cell”, “mobile”, or “PCS” phones. These types of wireless phones can expose the user to measurable
Radio Frequency (RF) energy 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
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Safety
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