Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Cell Phone Radiation - Does the test still make sense?

It seems every year a study comes out revealing the radiation levels of the newest phones to hit the market. This year, Motorola had 6 of the top 20, while Blackberries made up 4 of the top SAR models.

Measured in SAR (specific absorption rate levels) which is the amount of radio energy absorbed by your body, the tests that measure the SAR levels specifically measure the human head using a model filled with a fluid which represents the same absorption properties of a human head. Although, its interesting that they perform these tests on a model of a large male head with small ears according to sarvalues.com. As a large head is more likely to absorb more radiation.

Whats interesting is how the culture of cell phones has started to make the test seem outdated and a poor representation of how we use our cell phones today. What about the SAR measurement when your texting or browsing the web? Now, with your hands being smaller than your head, there's a pretty good chance that the SAR rating wouldn't be any higher and, in fact could be lower. But, what about when you have your smart phone updating your e-mails every hour in your pocket? Seems like your whole midsection has a little more mass than your head, and therefore could absorb more radiation.

Why hasn't the FCC updated the test to include the 'in pocket' SAR when your phone is busy keeping you connected to the digital world of facebook, twitter, & e-mail updates that we can't live without?

For a list of the SAR ratings on some of the phones you grew up check out http://www.sarvalues.com/usa-complete.html

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