Cell Phones and Your Health

In consultation with federal health and safety agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the FCC has adopted limits for safe exposure to radiofrequency (RF) energy. These limits are given in terms of a unit referred to as the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), which is a measure of the rate of absorption of RF energy in the body. The FCC requires cell phone manufacturers to ensure that their phones comply with these objective limits for safe exposure. Any cell phone at or below these SAR levels (that is, any phone legally sold in the U.S.) is a "safe" phone, as measured by these standards. Information on SAR levels for many phones is available electronically through the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology at http://www.fcc.gov/oet/rfsafety, or by calling the FCC’s information line for RF Safety, (202) 418-2464.

There is no scientific evidence to date that proves that wireless phone usage can lead to cancer or other adverse health effects, such as headaches, dizziness, elevated blood pressure, or memory loss. However, studies are ongoing, and key government agencies such as the FDA continue to monitor the results of the latest scientific research on this topic. See FDA Web site at www.fda.gov/cdrh/phones. Also, the World Health Organization (WHO) has established an ongoing program to monitor research in this area and make recommendations related to the safety of mobile phones. See WHO Web site at www.who.int/peh-emf.

Cell phones have been shown to have an indirect effect in one health area, in that they potentially can cause interference to implanted cardiac pacemakers under certain conditions. Some studies show that mobile phones could interfere with implanted cardiac pacemakers if the phone is placed within eight inches of the pacemaker during use. To avoid this potential problem, pacemaker patients may want to avoid placing a phone in a pocket close to the location of their pacemaker.