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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.
How much evidence is there that hand-held mobile phones might
be harmful?
Briefly, there is not enough evidence to know for sure, either way; however, research
efforts are on-going. The existing scientific evidence is conflicting and many of the
studies that have been done to date have suffered from flaws in their research
methods. Animal experiments investigating the effects of RF exposures characteristic
of mobile phones have yielded conflicting results. A few animal studies, however, have
suggested that low levels of RF could accelerate the development of cancer in
laboratory animals. In one study, mice genetically altered to be predisposed to
developing one type of cancer developed more than twice as many such cancers when
they were exposed to RF energy compared to controls. There is much uncertainty
Section 15
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Knowing Performance and Safety Guidelines
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