154
•National Telecommunications and
Information Administration
The National Institutes of Health also participates in
this group.
In the absence of conclusive information about any possible risk, what can concerned individuals do?
If there is a risk from these products—and at this
point we do not know that there is—it is probably
very small. But if people are concerned about
avoiding even potential risks, there are simple steps
they can take to do so. For example, time is a key
factor in how much exposure a person receives.
Those persons who spend long periods of time on
their hand-held mobile phones could consider
holding lengthy conversations on conventional
phones and reserving the hand-held models for
shorter conversations or for situations when other
types of phones are not available.
People who must conduct extended conversations
in their cars every day could switch to a type of
mobile phone that places more distance between
their bodies and the source of the RF, since the
exposure level drops off dramatically with distance.
For example, they could switch to:
•a mobile phone in which the antenna is
located outside the vehicle
•a hand-held phone with a built-in antenna
connected to a different antenna mounted on
the outside of the car or built into a separate
package
•a headset with a remote antenna to a mobile
phone carried at the waist
Again, the scientific data do not demonstrate that
mobile phones are harmful. But if people are
concerned about the radio frequency energy from
these products, taking the simple precautions
outlined above can reduce any possible risk.