21
Emergency Services and Safety Precautions
ADesign wireless phones in a way that
minimizes any RF exposure to the user that is
not necessary for device function; and
ACooperate in providing users of wireless
phones with the 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:
ANational Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health
AEnvironmental Protection Agency
AOccupational Safety and Health
Administration
ANational 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.