He points out that people tend to be less concerned with the safety of a useful appliance, such as a cell phone, and more concerned about something they do not find directly useful, such as a power line. In their article, Foster and Moulder also analyze the problems with the warning issued in June by a British government panel. But at the same time it recommended that cell phone companies discourage the use of cell phones by children and that consumers should be given comparative data on radiation. They also note that it is unclear whether radiation data will be of any practical use to consumers because many of the technical details in the standard set for limiting exposure to cell phone radiation have no demonstrated relation to risk. The Federal Communications Commission has set a limit on peak exposure to cell phone radiation at 1.6 milliwatts per gram of body tissue averaged over any one gram of tissue.
European limits are less restrictive.
If the important hazard from cell phones is from heating, Foster and Moulder write, cell phone users need not be concerned because a cell phone's low power output is not likely to cause that. If some other hazard exists, then the whole basis for the limits would have to be considered. Kenneth R. Foster is a professor of bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. John E. Moulder is a professor of radiation biology at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.