Samsung GreatCall How-To Manual page 79

(FTC) charged two companies that sold devices that claimed to protect wireless phone users
from radiation with making false and unsubstantiated claims. According to the FTC, these
defendants lacked a reasonable basis to substantiate their claim.
What about wireless phone interference with medical equipment?
Radio frequency 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 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
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 compatible phone and a compatible hearing aid at the
same time. This standard was approved by the IEEE in 2000.
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The FDA continues to monitor the use of wireless phones for possible interactions with
other medical devices. Should harmful interference be found to occur, The FDA will
conduct testing to assess the interference and work to resolve the problem.
Additional information on the safety of RF exposures from various sources can be
obtained from the following organizations (Updated 12/1/2006):
• FCC RF Safety Program: www.fcc.gov/oet/rfsafety
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): www.epa.gov/radiation
• O ccupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA):
www.osha.gov/SLTC/radiofrequencyradiation
• N ational Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH):
www.cdc.gov/niosh
• World Health Organization (WHO): www.who.int/peh–emf
• I nternational Commission on Non–Ionizing Radiation Protection: www.icnirp.de
• National Radiation Protection Board (UK):
• US Food and Drug Administration: www.fda.gov/cellphones
www.hpa.org.uk/radiation
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