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Appendix C: Consumer Update on Wireless Phones
Cooperate in providing users of wireless phones
with the best possible information on possible
effects of wireless phone use on human health
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
Federal Communications Commission
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
National Telecommunications and Information
Administration
The National Institutes of Health participates in
some interagency working group activities, as well.
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. FCC relies on FDA
and other health agencies for safety questions
about wireless phones.
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 primary subject of the safety questions
discussed in this document.
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