For Your Safety
71
the reasons for inconsistent
results.
2. What is the FDA’s role
concerning the safety of
wireless phones?
Under the law, the FDA does not
review the safety of radiation-
emitting consumer products such
as wireless phones before they can
be sold, as it does with new drugs
or medical devices. However, the
agency has authority to take action
if wireless phones are shown to
emit Radio Frequency (RF) energy
at a level that is hazardous to the
user. In such a case, the 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, the 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.
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:
National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health
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