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•National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health
•Environmental Protection Agency
•Occupational Safety and Health Administration
•National Telecommunications and Information
Asministration
The National Institutes of Health participates in some
interagency working group activities, as well
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 guide-
lines that limit RF exposure.FCC relies on FDA and
other health agencies for safety questions about
wireless phones.
FCC also regulates the base stations that the wire-
less 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.
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, 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
FDA regulatory actions, 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.
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: