Samsung IP-A790 manual What kinds of phones are the subject of this update?, Safety Guidelines 203

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:

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

Environmental Protection Agency

Federal Communications Commission

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

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 guidelines 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 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 primary subject of the safety questions discussed in this document.

What kinds of phones are the subject of this update?

The term “wireless phone” refers here to hand-held wireless phones with built- in antennas, often called “cell,” “mobile,” or “PCS” phones. These types of wireless phones can expose the user to measurable radiofrequency energy (RF) because of the short distance between the phone and the user's head. These RF exposures are limited by Federal Communications Commission safety guidelines that were developed with the advice of FDA and other federal health and safety agencies. When the phone is located at greater distances from the user, the exposure to RF is drastically lower because a person's RF exposure decreases rapidly with increasing distance from the source. The so-called “cordless phones,” which have a base unit connected to the telephone wiring in a house, typically operate at far lower power levels, and thus produce RF exposures well within the FCC's compliance limits.

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