Safety
100
Safety
best possible information on
possible effects of wireless
phone use on human health.
The 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:
l
National Institute for
Occupational Safety and
Health
l
Environmental Protection
Agency
l
Occupational Safety and
Health Administration
l
National Telecommunications
and Information
Administration
The National Institutes of Health
participates in some interagency
working group activities, as well.
The 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. The FCC relies
on the FDA and other health
agencies for safety questions
about wireless phones.
The 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.