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U.S. FDA's Consumer Update
The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Center for Devices and Radiological Health Consumer Update on Wireless Phones.
1.
Do wireless phones pose a health hazard?
The available scientific evidence does not show that any health problems are associated with using wireless phones. There is no proof, however, that wireless phones are absolutely safe. Wireless phones emit low levels of radio
frequency energy (RF) in the microwave range while being used. They also emit very low levels of RF when in the idle mode. Whereas high levels of RF can produce health effects (by heating tissue), exposure to low level RF that does
not produce heating effects causes no known adverse health effects. Many studies of low level RF exposures have not found any biological effects. Some studies have suggested that some biological effects may occur, but such findings
have not been confirmed by additional research. In some cases, other researchers have had difficulty in reproducing those studies, or in determining the reasons for inconsistent results.
2.
What is FDA's role concerning the safety of wireless phones?
Under the law, FDA does not review the safety of radiation-emitting consumer products such as wireless phones before they can be sold, as it does with new drugs or medical devices. However, the agency has authority to take action
if wireless phones are shown to emit radio frequency energy (RF) at a level that is hazardous to the user. In such a case, FDA could require the manufacturers of wireless phones to notify users of the health hazard and to repair,
replace or recall the phones so that the hazard no longer exists.
Although the existing scientific data does not justify FDA regulatory actions at this time, FDA has urged the mobile phone industry to take a number of steps, including the following:
Support needed research into possible biological effects of RF of the type emitted by mobile phones;
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Design mobile phones in a way that minimizes any RF exposure to the user that is not necessary for device function; and
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Cooperate in providing wireless phone users with the best possible information on what is known about possible effects of wireless phone use on human health.
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FDA belongs to an interagency working group of the federal agencies that have responsibility for different aspects of mobile phone safety to ensure coordinated efforts at the federal level. These following agencies that belong to this
working group are:
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
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Environmental Protection Agency
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Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
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National Telecommunications and Information Administration
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The National Institutes of Health participates in some interagency working group activities, as well.
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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 subject of the safety questions discussed herein.
3.
What kinds of phones are subject of this update?
The term "wireless phone" refers here to hand-held 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 energy
(RF) because of the short distance between the phone and the user's head. These RF exposures are limited by Federal Communications Commission safety guidelines that were developed with the advice of FDA and other federal health
and safety agencies. When the phone is located at greater distances from the user, the exposure to RF is drastically lower because a person's RF exposure decreases rapidly with increasing distance from the source. The so-called
"cordless phones," which have a base unit connected to the telephone wiring in a house, typically operate at far lower power levels, and thus produce RF exposures far below the FCC safety limits.
4.
What are the results of the research done already?
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