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and teenagers using wireless phones. Reducing
the time of wireless phone use and increasing the
distance between the user and the RF source will
reduce RF exposure. Some groups sponsored
by other national governments have advised that
children be discouraged from using wireless phones
at all. For example, the government in the United
Kingdom distributed leaflets containing such a
recommendation in December 2000. They noted
that no evidence exists that using a wireless phone
causes brain tumors or other ill effects. Their
recommendation to limit wireless phone use by
children was strictly precautionary; it was not based
on scientific evidence that any health hazard exists.
11. What about wireless phone interference with
medical equipment?
Radiofrequency energy (RF) from wireless phones can
interact with some electronic devices. For this reason,
the FDA helped develop a detailed test method
to measure electromagnetic interference (EMI) of
implanted cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators from
wireless telephones. This test method is now part
of a standard sponsored by the Association for the
Advancement of Medical instrumentation (AAMI).
The final draft, a joint effort by the FDA, medical
device manufacturers, and many other groups, was
completed in late 2000. This standard will allow
manufacturers to ensure that cardiac pacemakers
and defibrillators are safe from wireless phone EMI.
The FDA has tested hearing aids for interference
from handheld wireless phones and helped develop
a voluntary standard sponsored by the Institute
of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). This
standard specifies test methods and performance
requirements for hearing aids and wireless phones
so that no interference occurs when a person uses a
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