Wireless phone manufacturers want to relax the radiation exposure standard for the outer ear, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is expected to give its approval. The request came justs weeks after a report that many mobile phones violate current limits by overexposing the ear. "C.K. Chou (of Motorola) proposed that, for the general public, the outer ear should be considered an extremely, similar to the hands, feet, wrists and ankles," said Ron Petersen, secretary of the IEEE's Standards Coordinating Committee 28 (SCC-28). The IEEE's RF/MW standard allows higher exposures for these extremeties than for the rest of the body. Chou introduced the subject in Atlanta at the October 17 meeting of SCC-28's Subcommitte 4 (SC-4), which deals with standards from 3 kHz to 300GHz. Dr. Veli Santomaa of Nokia then gave a presentation in support of the proposal. Although "the SAR in the ear is the highest in the body," Santomaa said, the outer ear "is not a vital organ": Its main function is simply "to capture sound for hearing." Thus, it is not necessary to "protect the [outer ear] against RF exposure at the same level as the brain," Santomaa told SCC-28/SC-4. If the limit for the ear is raised, Santomaa argued, "Maximum power of phones will not be limited unnecessarily." The members of SC-4 gave unanimous support to the proposed change, Chou and Peterson told Microwave News.