The Environmental Working Group has a neat chart online that lists the amount of radiation leaked by most current cell phones. The ranking is in watt per kilogram (a measure of what engineers call “specific absorption rate” or SAR). Bear in mind that the FCC regulation limit is 1.6 W/kg, and there are quite a few phones that get incredibly close and a few that even hit 1.6 W/kg right on the head. That’s 1.6 W/kg measured over a gram of tissue or fluid, by the way.
This isn’t exactly a crazy amount of radiation, and it’s probably not worth getting worked up about. I know this intellectually, and I’m sure my body can and does easily absorb that much radiation without complications. All kinds of radiation hits us all the time, and whether it’s harmful or not depends on the strength and length of exposure. EM radiation bombards us from radio towers (FM, AM, TV, etc.), power lines and outlets and stuff, cell phone towers, Wi-Fi, and a whole bunch from the freakin’ Sun itself. Of course, we do constantly talk about protecting yourself from all that solar radiation with sunscreen and such.
Even knowing that it’s almost certainly not harmful, it’s still a little troubling that my iPhone 3G, which I always keep in front pocket when I’m out of the house, is 0.24 - 1.39 W/kg. I mean, how often is it way down at the .24 range? When is it way up at 1.39? I suspect this range has to do with things like whether or not Wi-Fi is enabled. Annie’s G1 comes in at 1.11 W/kg, which is somewhere in the middle of the list. 3G smartphones, unsurprisingly, fare worse than…uh…dumbphones I guess you’d call them.
(By the way – I was going to name this post “I’m nuking by nuts!” but I chickened out.)
#1 by eric From west palm on November 18, 2009 - 9:31 pm
Since I use my cell phone about 5 hours a day, and I am still here, I guess its not to bad.
#2 by Rochmoninoff on November 20, 2009 - 12:01 pm
I get into this argument all the time.
The question always needs to be asked: “what KIND of radiation?”
If the answer is “radio waves” then what we’re talking about is LESS energetic than what comes out the shiny end of a flashlight.
If you feel uncomfortably warm (low energy radiation can do this – see Microwave ovens for details), move phone away from head! But realize that this is no more dangerous than holding a hot water bottle to your ear.
The dangerous radiaion is UV and X (and G if you hang around nuclear reactors, welding rods or smoke detectors a lot).
UV and above are IONIZING radiation.
These can cause
- cancer
- birth defects and other harmful mutations
- sterility
- and with acute exposure – radiation sickness and death
Cell phones don’t emit ionizing radiation unless you’ve found some magical “sunlamp app”.
PS: yes “that” Rochmoninoff
Hi Cassiae!
#3 by cellphones on June 16, 2010 - 10:24 am
It is not just an insane amount of radiation, and worked it’s probably not worth taking up.