Feature Article: SAR level of cell phones

Is Your Cell Phone Dangerous?
The short answer is – we don’t really know.

(Scroll down to determine you cell phone models SAR level)

Some Interesting Facts about Cell Phones

On July 18, 2005, CNN’s popular show Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees aired a segment in which the daughter of famed attorney Johnnie Cochran claimed cell phone usage played a part in her father’s early death. During the segment, Dr. Keith Black, Chief of Neurosurgery at Los Angeles’ Cedars Sinai Hospital affirmed his belief in the carcinogenic effects of cell phones. Dr. Black was quoted as saying, “My own belief is that there probably is a correlation between the use of cell phones and brain cancer, even though there’s no scientific proof…You know, this is a microwave antenna, so you’re essentially cooking the brain when you hold the receiver right next to your brain.

Although many research groups and doctors disagree with Dr. Black’s position, they acknowledge that there is no conclusive evidence to support either side of the issue and additional research must be done. A recent review of 26 leading reports on cell phone danger, found that, “Overall the reports acknowledge that exposure to low level RF [radiofrequency] fields may cause a variety of subtle biological effects on cells, animals and humans, particularly on brain activity during sleep, but the possibility of exposure causing adverse health effects remains unproven. Nevertheless, these reports suggest additional well-targeted, high quality research would be valuable to explore remaining uncertainties further.”3

Leading researcher Stefan Lonn, PhD in the spring 2005 National Brain Tumor Foundation newsletter, echoes this cautious sentiment. Dr. Lonn writes, “…concerns have been raised that use of [cell phone] technology has increased dramatically without sufficient understanding of potential adverse health effects.”4 The uncertainty of the health risks associated with cell phone emissions is troubling because of the vast number of people who use cell phones each day. Market analysts estimate that 175 million Americans own cell phones and a recent study by Scarborough Research found that 69 percent of New York households own at least one cell phone.5 As the World Health Organization warned, “Given the immense numbers of users of mobile phones, even small adverse effects on health could have major public health implications.”6 In the absence of conclusive evidence either way it is important that consumers can easily find information on the levels of emissions from their cell phones. This information allows them to make calculated risks and educated decisions about which phones to purchase and use.

What can I use to protect myself from cell phone radiation

Cell Phone SAR Levels listed by Manufacturer

What is the SAR Level

Back in 1996, in an effort to address growing concerns about cell phone emissions, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established radio frequency exposure guidelines for cell phones. They developed the term “SAR” or Specific Absorption Rate as a way of measuring the absorption of cell phone emissions into the body. The maximum legal SAR level in the United States is 1.6W/kg (watts per kilogram). SAR levels for cell phones typically range from .2W/kg and 1.58W/kg. Troublingly, information on SAR levels of popular cell phone models is not widely known or readily available. The FCC and the FDA joined forces to produce a website with links to cell phone manufacturers’ websites so consumers can look up the emission level of their cell phone. But the joint FCC/FDA website does not have a comprehensive list of SAR levels, and it is quite a tedious task to visit dozens of websites to compare SAR levels of different phones before purchasing one. There are non-governmental websites that list SAR levels for different phones, but most people don’t know about these sites, or do not trust the information because it does not come directly from the joint FCC/FDA website.

The following information was compiled from the websites of each major cell phone manufacturer and the information on SAR levels from the FCC and FDA-sponsored links. The SAR ratings for the most popular phone models, as of May 2005, listed by Manufacturer.