Blackberry Wireless Handheld Frequently Asked Questions Manual page 5

• Design wireless phones in a way that minimizes any RF exposure to the user that is not necessary
for device function; and
• 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 interagency 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
wireless phones. Base stations are thus not the subject of the safety questions discussed in this
document.
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," which have a base unit connected to the telephone wiring in a house, typically operate at far
lower power levels, and thus produce RF exposures far below the FCC safety limits.
What are the results of the research done already?
The research done thus far has produced conflicting results, and many studies have suffered from
flaws in their research methods. Animal experiments investigating the effects of radiofrequency energy
(RF) exposures characteristic of wireless phones have yielded conflicting results that often cannot be
repeated in other laboratories. A few animal studies, however, have suggested that low levels of RF
could accelerate the development of cancer in laboratory animals. However, many of the studies that
showed increased tumor development used animals that had been genetically engineered or treated
with cancer-causing chemicals so as to be pre-disposed to develop cancer in the absence of RF
exposure. Other studies exposed the animals to RF for up to 22 hours per day. These conditions are not
similar to the conditions under which people use wireless phones, so we don't know with certainty
what the results of such studies mean for human health.
Three large epidemiology studies have been published since December 2000. Between them, the
studies investigated any possible association between the use of wireless phones and primary brain
cancer, glioma, meningioma, or acoustic neuroma, tumors of the brain or salivary gland, leukemia, or
CTIA Compliance
FDA Consumer Update
5