Fda consumer update – LG G4011GO User Manual

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FDA Consumer Update

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Devices and
Radiological Health Consumer Update on Mobile Phones.

1.Do wireless phones pose a health hazard?

The available scientific evidence does not show that any health
problems are associated with using wireless phones. There is no
proof, however, that wireless phones are absolutely safe.
Wireless phones emit low levels of radiofrequency energy (RF) in
the microwave range while being used. They also emit very low
levels of RF when in the standby mode. Whereas high levels of
RF can produce health effects (by heating tissue), exposure to
low level RF that does not produce heating effects causes no
known adverse health effects. Many studies of low level RF
exposures have not found any biological effects. Some studies
have suggested that some biological effects may occur, but such
findings have not been confirmed by additional research. In some
cases, other researchers have had difficulty in reproducing those
studies, or in determining the reasons for inconsistent results.

2.What is the FDA’s role concerning the safety of

wireless phones?

Under the law, the FDA does not review the safety of radiation-
emitting consumer products such as wireless phones before they
can be sold, as it does with new drugs or medical devices.
However, the agency has authority to take action if wireless
phones are shown to emit radiofrequency energy (RF) at a level
that is hazardous to the user. In such a case, the FDA could
require the manufacturers of wireless phones to notify users of
the health hazard and to repair, replace, or recall the phones so
that the hazard no longer exists.

Although the existing scientific data do not justify FDA regulatory
actions, the FDA has urged the wireless phone industry to take a
number of steps, including the following:

Safety Guidelines

Safety Guidelines

]

Support needed research into possible biological effects of RF
of the type emitted by wireless phones;

]

Design wireless phones in a way that minimizes any RF
exposure to the user that is not necessary for device function;
and

]

Cooperate in providing users of wireless phones with the best
possible information on possible effects of wireless phone use
on human health.

The FDA belongs to an interagency working group of the federal
agencies that have responsibility for different aspects of RF safety
to ensure coordinated efforts at the federal level. The following
agencies belong to this working group:

o National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

o Environmental Protection Agency

o Occupational Safety and Health Administration

o National Telecommunications and Information Administration

The National Institutes of Health participates in some interagency
working group activities, as well.

The FDA shares regulatory responsibilities for wireless phones with
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). All phones that
are sold in the United States must comply with FCC safety
guidelines that limit RF exposure. The FCC relies on the FDA and
other health agencies for safety questions about wireless phones.

The FCC also regulates the base stations that the wireless phone
networks rely upon. While these base stations operate at higher
power than do the wireless phones themselves, the RF exposures
that people get from these base stations are typically thousands of
times lower than those they can get from wireless phones. Base
stations are thus not the subject of the safety questions discussed
in this document.

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