Safety Guidelines
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Safety Guidelines
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 radiofrequency energy (RF), 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.
11. 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 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 ‘compatible’ phone and a ‘compatible’ hearing
aid at the same time.