For Your Safety 138
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 Radio Frequency (RF) energy, 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?
Radio Frequency (RF) energy from wireless phones can interact with some
electronic devices. For this reason, the FDA helped develop a detailed test
method to measure Electro Magnetic 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 the 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.
The 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 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.
The FDA continues to monitor the use of wireless phones for possible
interactions with other medical devices. Should harmful interference be found
to occur, the FDA will conduct testing to assess the interference and work to
resolve the problem.
