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Safety
want to take steps to lower
exposure to radiofrequency
energy (RF), the measures
described above would apply to
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
294
strictly precautionary; it was not
based on scientific evidence that
any health hazard exists.
1 1. 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
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