Siemens GSM 900 User Manual download pdf (Page 103)

31.5.02 10-S46 FDA.fm i 37Am Engl, A31008-H4600-A2-1-19

U.S. FDA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA)

Center for Devices and Radiological Health

Consumer Update on Mobile Phones

FDA has been receiving inquiries about the safety of

mobile phones, including cellular phones and PCS phones. The following

summarizes what is know — and what remains unknown — about whether

these products can pose a hazard to health, and what can be done to

minimize any potential risk. This information may be used to respond

to questions.

Why the concern?

Mobile phones emit low levels of radio frequency energy (i.e., radio frequency

radiation) in the microwave range while being used. They also emit very low

levels of radio frequency energy (RF), considered non-significant, when in the

stand-by mode. It is well known that high levels of RF can produce biological

damage through heating effects (this is how your microwave oven is able to

cook food). However, it is not known whether, to what extent, or through what

mechanism, lower levels of RF might cause adverse health effects as well.

Although some research has been done to address these questions, no clear

picture of the biological effects of this type of radiation has emerged to date.

Thus, the available science does not allow us to conclude that mobile phones

are absolutely safe, or that they are unsafe. However, the available scientific

evidence does not demonstrate adverse health effects associated with the

use of mobile phones.

What kinds of phones are in question?

Questions have been raised about hand-held mobile phones, the kind that

have a built-in antenna that is positioned close to the user's head during

normal telephone conversation. These types of mobile phones are of concern

because of the short distance between the phone's antenna — the primary

source of the RF — and the person's head. The exposure to RF from mobile

phones in which the antenna is located at greater distances from the user (on

the outside of a car, for example) is drastically lower than that from hand-held

phones, because a person's RF exposure decreases rapidly with distance

from the source. The safety of so-called “cordless phones,” which have a

base unit connected to the telephone wiring in a house and which operate at

far lower power levels and frequencies, has not been questioned.

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Siemens GSM 900 User Manual Page 103