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?
Radio frequency energy (RF) from wireless phones can interact with
some electronic devices. For this reason, the 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 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).
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