Section 4A: Safety Guidelines 178as many facilities as are required, and the licensee is not required to provide theFCC with specific location and operating parameters of these facilities.Information on site specific licensed facilities can be found the “General MenuReports” (GenMen) at http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/genmen/index.hts.The various FCC Bureaus also publish on at least a weekly basis, bulk extractsof their licensing databases. Each licensing database has its own unique filestructure. These extracts consist of multiple, very large files. The FCC's Officeof Engineering and Technology (OET) maintains an index to these databases athttp://www.fcc.gov/oet/info/database/fadb.html. Entry points into the variousdatabases include frequency, state/county, latitude/longitude, call-sign andlicensee name. For further information on the Commission's existing databases,you can contact Donald Campbell at dcampbel@fcc.gov or 202-418-2405.Can local and state governmental bodies establish limits forRF exposure?Although some local and state governments have enacted rules and regulationsabout human exposure to RF energy in the past, the Telecommunications Actof 1996 requires the Federal Government to control human exposure to RFemissions. In particular, Section 704 of the Act states that, “No State or localgovernment or instrumentality thereof may regulate the placement,construction, and modification of personal wireless service facilities on thebasis of the environmental effects of radio frequency emissions to the extentthat such facilities comply with the Commission's regulations concerning suchemissions.” Further information on federal authority and FCC policy is availablein a fact sheet from the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau atwww.fcc.gov/wtb.Do wireless phones pose a health hazard?The available scientific evidence does not show that any health problems areassociated with using wireless phones. There is no proof, however, thatwireless phones are absolutely safe. Wireless phones emit low levels ofradiofrequency energy (RF) in the microwave range while being used. Theyalso emit very low levels of RF when in the stand-by mode. Whereas high levelsof RF can produce health effects (by heating tissue), exposure to low level RFthat 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 suchfindings have not been confirmed by additional research. In some cases, otherresearchers have had difficulty in reproducing those studies, or in determiningthe reasons for inconsistent results.What is FDA's role concerning the safety of wireless phones?Under the law, FDA does not review the safety of radiation-emitting consumerproducts such as wireless phones before they can be sold, as it does with newdrugs or medical devices. However, the agency has authority to take action ifwireless phones are shown to emit radiofrequency energy (RF) at a level that ishazardous to the user. In such a case, FDA could require the manufacturers of
