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For example, you could use a headset and carry the wireless phone away from your body or use a
wireless phone connected to a remote antenna. Again, the scientific data do not demonstrate that
wireless phones are harmful. But if you are concerned about the RF exposure from these products, you
can use measures like those described above to reduce your RF exposure from wireless phone use.
10. What about children using wireless phones?
The scientific evidence does not show a danger to users of wireless phones, including children and
teenagers. If you want to take steps to lower exposure to radiofrequency energy (RF), the measures
described above would apply to children and teenagers using wireless phones. Reducing the time
of wireless phone use and increasing the distance between the user and the RF source will reduce
RF exposure. Some groups sponsored by other national governments have advised that children
be discouraged from using wireless phones at all. For example, the government in the United
Kingdom distributed leaflets containing such a recommendation in December 2000. They noted
that no evidence exists that using a wireless phone causes brain tumors or other ill effects. Their
recommendation to limit wireless phone use by children was strictly precautionary; it was not based
on scientific evidence that any health hazard exists.
11. What about wireless phone interference with medical equipment?
Radiofrequency energy (RF) from wireless phones can interact with some electronic devices. For this
reason, FDA helped develop a detailed test method to measure electromagnetic interference (EMI)
of implanted cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators from wireless telephones. This test method is now
part of a standard sponsored by the Association for the Advancement of Medical instrumentation
(AAMI). The final draft, a joint effort by FDA, medical device manufacturers, and many other groups,
was completed in late 2000. This standard will allow manufacturers to ensure that cardiac pacemakers
and defibrillators are safe from wireless phone EMI. FDA has tested hearing aids for interference from
handheld wireless phones and helped develop a voluntary standard sponsored by the Institute of
Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). This standard specifies test methods and performance
requirements for hearing aids and wireless phones so that that no interference occurs when a person
uses a “compatible” phone and a “compatible” hearing aid at the same time. This standard was approved
by the IEEE in 2000. FDA continues to monitor the use of wireless phones for possible interactions with
other medical devices. Should harmful interference be found to occur, FDA will conduct testing to
assess the interference and work to resolve the problem.
