Advertisement
Available languages
Available languages
Safety
children and teenagers using
wireless 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.
32
11. What about wireless phone
interference with medical
equipment?
Radio frequency energy (RF) from
wireless phones can interact with
some electronic devices. For this
reason, the FDA helped develop a
detailed test method to measure
electromagnetic 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
Advertisement
