Fda Consumer Update - Motorola MicroTAC Owner's Manual

Reference
The U.S. Food and Drug Administrationís 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 follow-
ing 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 informa-
tion 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 radiofre-
quency energy (RF), considered non-significant, when in the
stand-by mode. It is well known that high levels of RF can pro-
duce 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 sci-
entific 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
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