Smart phone radiation is a thorny issue all over the world, as levels seem to rise with every new model. Yesterday, the French regulator responsible for radio frequencies emissions (ANFR) revealed that according to its latest tests the iPhone12 exceeds the legally allowed Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), and directed Apple to either update its OS or recall all existing iPhone 12 models.
The elephant in the room is that in spite of calls to action and much activism, North American regulators keep refusing to update their norms from 30 years ago which were adopted when touch-screens didn’t exist. These outdated norms (including the “independent” studies cited by Apple and the World Health Organization) are misrepresentative due to the fact that radiation absorption tests are performed the closest , at half a centimeter of distance from devices with touchscreens.
Canada Health warns against excessive use of smart-phones, as well as many other sources of household radiation. Although the cumulative effect of radiation is not a concern (which I doubt, given extensive empirical evidence to the contrary) admits that more studies are necessary. Smart phone radiation is one explanation for the declining health of the working population. Health Canada places the responsibility on users to reduce their exposure, rather than ask the same from companies.
How do you touch a touchscreen without touching it?
It is understandable why Apple is contesting the ANFR directive that has the potential to produce a domino-effect accross the phone industry, beginning with a flood of class-actions. However, the OS fix may indeed be a fairly simple solution albeit not to the liking of data and biometric data collecting applications that are continuously running in the background, thus boosting unwanted radiation. Apple has now the choice to update its OS to stop doing all the tasks that violate absorption levels or to automatically block applications from running if their cumulative radiation may exceed the threshold.
How tests are performed
France will share its findings with other regulators across the trading bloc which could result in “a snowball effect”. The ANFR requires the SAR of devices to be checked against two different ways a phone is used.
First there is a member or limb check, for when a phone is in close contact with a person’s body, such as when it is held or placed in a trouser pocket. The SAR limit for this is 4 watts per kilogram. The regulator said the iPhone12’s “membre” SAR was 5.74 watts per kilogram – higher than the limit. There is also a check for when a phone is slightly further away, such as when it is in a bag or jacket pocket, but the iPhone 12’s SAR measure came in under this threshold.
For some reason, nobody wants to test radiation absorption levels during active use of a phone, or when a person is touching it, texting, browsing, dialing, holding the phone to the ear or in your hand while using the phone. This is unfortunate because it doesn’t give us a reliable picture of absorbed radiation. Again, a phone is of zero use if you simply carry it in a pocket or look at it from a couple of feet distance.
Given the unreliable tests, the only methods to reduce smart-device radiation other than completely avoiding their use is to keep phones in airplane mode when idle, strictly avoid in-person work and crowded schoolrooms, and in general all spaces where too many devices operate indoors, or stick to older models which don’t emit as much. Not all older models are safe though. See list below. The iPhone 7, tested in 2019 by the Chicago Tribune displays alarming levels of radiation at 2mm to 5mm from the body. It is my favorite older model because it is the thinnest and the lightest. It has a crappy front camera but its main camera is pretty decent and its slick size is great for content creation. New models being ever more enormous, bulky, and heavy, my most beloved models are literally the iPhone7 and the iPhone12 mini. It is very disappointing because we are encouraged by companies to edit videos directly on mobile. There are features you can only access in-app.
Having hit the jackpot of radiation, I’m now looking for a very old and non-intelligent phone, short of a landline with a very long curly cable… Laptops also emit radiation, but we don’t carry them close to our bodies.
Mobile radiation is real and cannot be ignored any longer. I do get headaches around some of the bigger phones in my proximity even though I don’t own a big model myself. I noticed the bigger the phone, the more pronounced the headaches. Usually, I would first feel an onset of localized headache (left right or back of the head) and then when I look in the direction of the pain I always notice there is a phone a few inches from my ear or behind my head, exactly where I feel the pain. When I move further away from the device the headache stops. If I don’t remove myself from the radiation source, other parts of my body begin to ache and tingle like electricity. The classic scenario is pain shooting down from the temple and the side of the neck all the way down to my elbow. It is not a coincidence. When I enforce physical distancing, I don’t get any of these radiation symptoms. It’s been going on since 2017, long before the pandemic. I can’t have more than one active phone in a 3 feet radius from my body. I’m pretty sure I am not the only one. If you are reading this, begin observing your body in presence of multiple phones. Pain is only the beginning. Pervasive balance issues, vestibular disorders, temporary loss of consciousness, and free-falls for no reason at all are a definite hint of excessive mobile radiation.
Moreover, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a branch of the WHO, has previously claimed that certain radio frequencies at extreme levels are ‘possibly carcinogenic to humans’. I guess we’ll find out in 75 years.
Apple iPhone 7
Phone 1 – Standard test
| Test distance | W/kg | |
|---|---|---|
| 5mm from body | 2.47 | |
| 2mm from body | 7.15 |
Phone 1 – Modified test
| Test distance | W/kg | |
|---|---|---|
| 5mm from body | 3.46 | |
| 2mm from body | 4.29 |
Phone 2 – Standard test
| Test distance | W/kg | |
|---|---|---|
| 5mm from body | 2.81 | |
| 2mm from body | 3.5 |
Phone 2 – Modified test
| Test distance | W/kg | |
|---|---|---|
| 5mm from body | 3.26 | |
| 2mm from body | 4.69 |
Phone 3 – Standard test
| Test distance | W/kg | |
|---|---|---|
| 5mm from body | 2.5 | |
| 2mm from body | 3.55 |
Phone 3 – Modified test
| Test distance | W/kg | |
|---|---|---|
| 5mm from body | 2.91 | |
| 2mm from body | 4.68 |
Phone 4 – Modified test
| Test distance | W/kg | |
|---|---|---|
| 5mm from body | 3.26 | |
| 2mm from body | 5 |
Apple iPhone X
Standard test
| Test distance | W/kg | |
|---|---|---|
| 5mm from body | 1.38 | |
| 2mm from body | 2.04 |
Modified test
| Test distance | W/kg | |
|---|---|---|
| 5mm from body | 2.19 | |
| 2mm from body | 2.01 |
Apple iPhone 8
Standard test
| Test distance | W/kg | |
|---|---|---|
| 5mm from body | 2.64 | |
| 2mm from body | 5.37 |
Modified test
| Test distance | W/kg | |
|---|---|---|
| 5mm from body | 1.1 | |
| 2mm from body | 2.64 |
Apple iPhone 8 Plus
Standard test
| Test distance | W/kg | |
|---|---|---|
| 5mm from body | 0.84 | |
| 2mm from body | 1.46 |
Modified test
| Test distance | W/kg | |
|---|---|---|
| 5mm from body | 0.68 | |
| 2mm from body | 1.79 |
Samsung Galaxy S9
Standard test
| Test distance | W/kg | |
|---|---|---|
| 15mm from body | 0.63 | |
| 2mm from body | 3.8 |
Samsung Galaxy S8
Standard test
| Test distance | W/kg | |
|---|---|---|
| 10mm from body | 1.53 | |
| 2mm from body | 8.22 |
Samsung Galaxy J3
Standard test
| Test distance | W/kg | |
|---|---|---|
| 10mm from body | 1.38 | |
| 2mm from body | 6.55 |
Moto e5 Play
Standard test
| Test distance | W/kg | |
|---|---|---|
| 5mm from body | 4.7 | |
| 2mm from body | 6.67 |
Modified test
| Test distance | W/kg | |
|---|---|---|
| 5mm from body | 0.78 | |
| 2mm from body | 1.25 |
Moto g6 Play
Standard test
| Test distance | W/kg | |
|---|---|---|
| 5mm from body | 1.64 | |
| 2mm from body | 3.42 |
Modified test
| Test distance | W/kg | |
|---|---|---|
| 5mm from body | 0.25 | |
| 2mm from body | 0.53 |
Moto e5
Modified test
| Test distance | W/kg | |
|---|---|---|
| 5mm from body | 0.68 | |
| 2mm from body | 1.75 |
BLU Vivo 5 Mini
Standard test
| Test distance | W/kg | |
|---|---|---|
| 10mm from body | 0.3 | |
| 2mm from body | 1.29 |