🗣 “Keep your phone at least 15 mm away from your ear or body while making calls .” This is the 3rd warning on page 4 of my ZTE Quest N817 mobile phone 🖁 user’s manual. After that is information and the results of the FCC’s SAR (Specific Absorption Rate) tests, which you can also find on this website - Grant Comments section: “The highest reported SAR values for head, body-worn accessory, product specific (wireless router), and simultaneous transmission use conditions are 1.05 W/kg, 1.23 W/kg, 1.10 W/kg, and 1.58 W/kg, respectively.”
My old Lenovo A1000 Smartphone manual also specifies 1.5 cm at the bottom of page 12. Apple iPads have similar specs. In contrast, my T-Mobile LG K20 Plus manual (pages 115-116) says .39" (1 cm).
☢ EM/RF and Microwave Radiation ☢
As with all electronic devices, your phone, tablet and wireless earphones emit Radio Frequency (RF) and electromagnetic (EM) radiation, which can cause damage to cells and even DNA, reduce fertility, sperm production and other effects. 😱 The FCC mandates 1.6 Watts/kg SAR over 1 kg of flesh - or less - for mobile devices like cordless, cell and mobile phones. Other countries use that or 2 W/kg over 10 kg of flesh. This is specifically in regards to the amount of radiation going into your head, but it applies just as well to the rest of your body. You may have to pull out a magnifying glass to read the warning in your user's manuals, or search through online documentation - and the requirements and test results will vary depending on what kind of device you're looking at - but it is there (the FCC and similar commissions in other countries require it). One thing's for sure: keep your phone at least a specific distance away from your skin. In general, it is recommended that electronic devices be kept at least 15 mm (5/8”) away from the body, including when listening to or otherwise using personal electronic devices, such as tablets, phones, headsets, etc. If carried in a phone-holding device, it should be in a metal-free holder at least 10 mm away. This is to minimize the possibility of radiation damage. Check your device's manual for the minimum safe distance. 📏
Cell Phones and Specific Absorption Rate (FCC)
☢ I found claims that iPads emit - in addition to EM and RF - microwave radiation and should be put on a table and not held on your lap or body, just like laptop computers. I also saw the same claims made for laptops. I doubt this, though.
This is the FCC’s website for searching for a device, and this is [the FCC’s advanced search page](http:// https://apps.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas/reports/GenericSearch.cfm).
TIP
Here’s a good way to know if your phone will be useful for private calls and, thus, safe to use based on the distance requirement: if you can’t hear well with it 5/8” away from your ear, it’s not a good choice.
Research Confirms the Risks of RF and EM Radiation
One study of the effects of a mobile phone set to call every 3 minutes over the full incubation period of 60 test chicken eggs confirmed a a significant, correlative increase in the incidence of embryo mortality. Unfortunately, the position of the exposed eggs (<=25cm) was not able to prove a causal relationship between the RF radiation and mortality. Perhaps, if they’d had the eggs significantly closer (<10 mm), the results would’ve been far more conclusive. (This was done with 3 control groups: 2 batches of 60 eggs each with no exposure to a cell phone, and 1 (sham) batch of 60 eggs that was in the same incubation chamber but 1.5 m away from the exposed group, and with a mobile phone in the off position.
Effects of exposing chicken eggs to a cell phone in “call” position over the entire incubation period
A meta-study of 101 studies showed that exposure to RF and EM radiation tends to have an impact on genetics, although the results varied from study to study depending on technology and other factors.
Genotoxic effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields
A Chinese study showed that both mobile phone use and Internet usage via wifi negatively impacted sperm: results showed that certain aspects of cell phone use may negatively affect sperm quality in men by decreasing the semen volume, sperm concentration, or sperm count, thus impairing male fertility.
Effects of cell phone use on semen parameters
There are many other studies that show the consequences of exposure to RF and EM (as well as other types of) radiation.
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