BenQ Mobile GmbH & Co. OHG A56 Manuel D’Utilisation

A56 AE, A31008-H5320-A100-1-4A19 (16. October 2002, 16:25)

© 

Siem

ens AG 2001

, I

:\Mob

il\A5

6\a

m

\A56

_FD

A

.FM

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 in-

formation may be used to respond 

to questions.
Why the concern?
Mobile phones emit low levels of ra-

dio frequency energy (i.e., radio fre-

quency radiation) in the microwave 

range while being used. They also 

emit very low levels of radio frequen-

cy energy (RF), considered non-sig-

nificant, 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 ques-

tions, no clear picture of the biologi-

cal effects of this type of radiation 

has emerged to date. Thus, the avail-

able science does not allow us to 

conclude that mobile phones are ab-

solutely safe, or that they are unsafe. 

However, the available scientific evi-

dence does not demonstrate ad-

verse 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 conversa-

tion. These types of mobile phones 

are of concern because of the short 

distance between the phone's an-

tenna — the primary source of the 

RF — and the person's head. The ex-

posure 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 per-

son'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.