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U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center for Devices and
Radiological Health Consumer Update on Mobile Phones
FDA has been receiving inquiries about the safety of mobile
phones, including cellular phones and PCS phones. The following
summarizes what is known--and what remains unknown--about
whether these products can pose a hazard to health, and what
can be done to minimize any potential risk. This information may
be used to respond to questions.
Why the concern?
Mobile phones emit low levels of radiofrequency energy (i.e.,
radiofrequency radiation) in the microwave range while being
used. They also emit very low levels of radiofrequency energy
(RF), considered non-significant, when in the stand-by mode. It is
well known that high levels of RF can produce biological damage
through heating effects (this is how your microwave oven is able
to cook food). However, it is not known whether, to what extent,
or through what mechanism, lower levels of RF might cause
adverse health effects as well. Although some research has been
done to address these questions, no clear picture of the
biological effects of this type of radiation has emerged to date.
Thus, the available science does not allow us to conclude that
mobile phones are absolutely safe, or that they are unsafe.
However, the available scientific evidence does not demonstrate
any adverse health effects associated with the use of mobile
phones.
What kinds of phones are in question?
Questions have been raised about hand-held mobile phones, the
kind that have a built-in antenna that is positioned close to the
user's head during normal telephone conversation. These types
of mobile phones are of concern because of the short distance
between the phone's antenna--the primary source of the RF--and
the person's head. The exposure to RF from mobile phones in
which the antenna is located at greater distances from the user
(on the outside of a car, for example) is drastically lower than that
from hand-held phones, because a person's RF exposure
decreases rapidly with distance from the source. The safety of so-
called "cordless phones," which have a base unit connected to
the telephone wiring in a house and which operate at far lower
power levels and frequencies, has not been questioned.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
77
English
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