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Safety
dramatically with distance. For example, you could use a headset and carry the wireless phone away from
your body or use a wireless phone connected to a remote antenna. Again, the scientific data does not
demonstrate that wireless phones are harmful. But if you are concerned about the RF exposure from
these products, you can use measures like those described above to reduce your RF exposure from
wireless phone use.
10. What about children using wireless phones?
The scientific evidence does not show a danger to users of wireless phones, including children and
teenagers. If you want to take steps to lower exposure to Radio Frequency (RF) energy, the measures
described above would apply to children 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.
1 1. What about wireless phone interference with medical equipment?
Radio Frequency (RF) energy from wireless phones can interact with some electronic devices. For this
reason, the FDA helped develop a detailed test method to measure Electro Magnetic 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
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