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Usage guidelines: All about performance and safety 151
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.
What about wireless phone
interference with medical equipment?
Radio frequency 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 on
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 no interference occurs when a person uses a
MetroA610.book Page 151 Tuesday, July 6, 2004 3:12 PM