Safety Guidelines
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
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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?
Radiofrequency 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,