UTStarcom C1100 User Manual page 109

Cooperate in providing users of wireless phones with the best possible
information on possible effects of wireless phone use on human health
FDA belongs to an interagency working group of the federal agencies that
have responsibility for different aspects of RF safety to ensure
coordinated efforts at the federal level. The following agencies belong to
this working group:
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Environmental Protection Agency
Federal Communications Commission
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
The National Institutes of Health participates in some inter-agency
working group activities, as well. FDA shares regulatory responsibilities
for wireless phones with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
All phones that are sold in the United States must comply with FCC safety
guidelines that limit RF exposure. FCC relies on FDA and other health
agencies for safety questions about wireless phones. FCC also regulates
the base stations that the wireless phone networks rely upon. While these
base stations operate at higher power than do the wireless phones
themselves, the RF exposures that people get from these base stations
are typically thousands of times lower than those they can get from
wire-less phones. Base stations are thus not the subject of the safety
questions discussed in this document
3. What kinds of phones are the subject of this update?
The term "wireless phone" refers here to hand-held wireless phones with
built-in Antennas, often called "cell," "mobile" or "PCS" phones
These types of wireless phones can expose the user to measurable
radiofrequency energy (RF) because of the short distance between the
phone and the user's head. These RF exposures are limited by Federal
Communications Commission safety guidelines that were developed with
the advice of FDA and other federal health and safety agencies. When the
phone is located at greater distances from the user, the exposure to RF is
drastically lower because a person's RF exposure decreases rapidly with
increasing distance from the source. The so-called "cordless phones,"
FDA Consumer Update
101