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75
Safety Guidelines
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
] Environmental Protection Agency
] Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(Administración de la seguridad y salud laborales)
] Occupational Safety and Health Administration
] National Telecommunications and Information
Administration
The National Institutes of Health participates in some
interagency working group activities, as well.
The 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. The FCC relies on
the FDA and other health agencies for safety
questions about wireless phones.
The 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
subject of the safety questions discussed in this
document.