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In the absence of conclusive information about any possible risk,
what can concerned individuals do?
•
cooperate in providing mobile phone users with the best possi-
ble information on what is known about possible effects of
mobile phone use on human health.
•
At the same time, FDA belongs to an interagency working group
of the federal agencies that have responsibility for different
aspects of mobile phone safety to ensure a coordinated effort at
the federal level. These agencies are:
•
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
•
Environmental Protection Agency
•
Federal Communications Commission
•
Occupational Health and Safety Administration
•
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
The National Institutes of Health also participates in this group.
If there is a risk from these products--and at this point we do not know
that there is--it is probably very small. But if people are concerned
about avoiding even potential risks, there are simple steps they can
take to do so. For example, time is a key factor in how much exposure
a person receives. Those persons who spend long periods of time on
their hand-held mobile phones could consider holding lengthy
conversations on conventional phones and reserving the hand-held
models for shorter conversations or for situations when other types
of phones are not available.
People who must conduct extended conversations in their cars every
day could switch to a type of mobile phone that places more distance
between their bodies and the source of the RF, since the exposure
level drops off dramatically with distance. For example, they could
switch to:
•
a mobile phone in which the antenna is located outside the vehi-
cle,
•
a hand-held phone with a built-in antenna connected to a differ-
ent antenna mounted on the outside of the car or built into a
separate package, or
•
a headset with a remote antenna to a mobile phone carried at
the waist.
Again, the scientific data do not demonstrate that mobile phones are
harmful. But if people are concerned about the radiofrequency energy
Additional Health and Safety Information
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