Nokia 5100 User Manual

Also see for 5100 - Cell Phone 725 KB: User guide User guide User guide

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[ 173 ]FDA shares regulatory responsibilities for wireless phones with the FederalCommunications Commission (FCC). All phones that are sold in the United Statesmust comply with FCC safety guidelines that limit RF exposure. FCC relies on FDAand other health agencies for safety questions about wireless phones. FCC alsoregulates the base stations that the wireless phone networks rely upon. While thesebase stations operate at higher power than do the wireless phones themselves, theRF exposures that people get from these base stations are typically thousands oftimes lower than those they can get from wireless phones. Base stations are thus notthe subject of the safety questions discussed in this document.3. What kinds of phones are the subject of this update?The term wireless phone refers here to hand-held wireless phones with built-inantennas, often called cell mobile or PCS phones. These types of wireless phonescan expose the user to measurable radiofrequency energy (RF) because of the shortdistance between the phone and the user’s head. These RF exposures are limited byFederal Communications Commission safety guidelines that were developed withthe advice of FDA and other federal health and safety agencies. When the phone islocated at greater distances from the user, the exposure to RF is drastically lowerbecause a person's RF exposure decreases rapidly with increasing distance from thesource. The so-called cordless phones; which have a base unit connected to thetelephone wiring in a house, typically operate at far lower power levels, and thusproduce RF exposures far below the FCC safety limits.4. What are the results of the research done already?The research done thus far has produced conflicting results, and many studies havesuffered from flaws in their research methods. Animal experiments investigating theeffects of radiofrequency energy (RF) exposures characteristic of wireless phoneshave yielded conflicting results that often cannot be repeated in other laboratories.A few animal studies, however, have suggested that low levels of RF could acceleratethe development of cancer in laboratory animals. However, many of the studies thatshowed increased tumor development used animals that had been geneticallyengineered or treated with cancer-causing chemicals so as to be pre-disposed todevelop cancer in the absence of RF exposure. Other studies exposed the animals toRF for up to 22 hours per day. These conditions are not similar to the conditionsunder which people use wireless phones, so we don’t know with certainty what theresults of such studies mean for human health.Three large epidemiology studies have been published since December 2000.Between them, the studies investigated any possible association between the useof wireless phones and primary brain cancer, glioma, meningioma, or acousticneuroma, tumors of the brain or salivary gland, leukemia, or other cancers. None ofthe studies demonstrated the existence of any harmful health effects from wirelessphone RF exposures. However, none of the studies can answer questions about long-term exposures, since the average period of phone use in these studies was aroundthree years.