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• cooperate in providing mobile phone users with the best possible
information on what is known about possible effects of mobile phone
use on human health
At the same time, FDA belongs to an interagency working group of the
federal agencies that have responsibility for different aspects of mobile
phone safety to ensure a coordinated effort at the federal level. These
agencies are:
• National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Federal Communications Commission
• Occupational Health and Safety Administration
• National Telecommunications and Information Administration
The National Institutes of Health also participates in this group.
In the absence of conclusive information about
any possible risk, what can concerned
individuals do?
If there is a risk from these products—and at this point we do not know
that there is—it is probably very small. But if people are concerned about
avoiding even potential risks, there are simple steps they can take to do
so. For example, time is a key factor in how much exposure a person
receives. Those persons who spend long periods of time on their
hand-held mobile phones could consider holding lengthy conversations
on conventional phones and reserving the hand-held models for shorter
conversations or for situations when other types of phones are not
available.
People who must conduct extended conversations in their cars every day
could switch to a type of mobile phone that places more distance between
their bodies and the source of the RF, since the exposure level drops off
dramatically with distance. For example, they could switch to:
• a mobile phone in which the antenna is located outside the vehicle
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