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different aspects of RF safety to ensure
coordinated efforts at the federal level. The
following agencies belong to this working group:
oNational Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health
oEnvironmental Protection Agency
oOccupational Safety and Health Administration
oNational Telecommunications and Information
Administration
The National Institutes of Health participates in
some interagency working group activities, as
well.
The FDAshares 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 FDAand 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.
2. What is the FDA's role concerning the safety
of wireless phones?
Under the law, the FDAdoes not review the safety
of radiation-emitting consumer products such as
wireless phones before they can be sold, as it
does with new drugs or medical devices.
However, the agency has authority to take action
if wireless phones are shown to emit
radiofrequency energy (RF) at a level that is
hazardous to the user. In such a case, the FDA
could require the manufacturers of wireless
phones to notify users of the health hazard and to
repair, replace, or recall the phones so that the
hazard no longer exists.
Although the existing scientific data do not justify
FDAregulatory actions, the FDA has urged the
wireless phone industry to take a number of
steps, including the following:
•
Support needed research into possible biological
effects of RF of the type emitted by wireless
phones;
•
Design wireless phones in a way that minimizes
any RF exposure to the user that is not necessary
for device function; and
•
Cooperate in providing users of wireless phones
with the best possible information on possible
effects of wireless phone use on human health.
The FDAbelongs to an interagency working group
of the federal agencies that have responsibility for
SAFETYGUIDELINES
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