Smartphone Radiation or SAR Value

Smartphone Radiation is the amount of energy that’s been absorbed by our body from the electromagnetic waves that our phone is firing. It is measured in terms of SAR (Specific Absorption Rate).

SAR is the rate at which energy is absorbed by the human body when exposed to radiation. It is defined as the power absorbed per mass of tissue and has a unit of W/kg.

Let’s keep it simple. Every phone emits a certain amount of radiation and SAR is the measure of that radiation.

SAR Limit:

In India and the USA, the SAR limit for mobile phones is 1.6 W/kg averaged over 1 gram of tissue. But in Europe, they have a SAR limit of 2.0 W/kg. A phone with a higher SAR value(more than 1.6 W/kg) is not allowed to be sold in the market.

Tests for SAR:

Tests for SAR will are conducted using standard operating positions with the phone transmitting at its highest certified power level in all tested frequency bands. Then the SAR values for head and body will be mentioned on that product.  

Do SAR values matter?

In the past, we have seen phones from Xiaomi and OnePlus phones having the highest recorded SAR values. This fact had made many users concern about their health.

But according to some studies and research, radiation levels measured on phones does not matter as they pose no real harm to humans.

This is because,

In the Electromagnetic Spectrum, we can see the range of different kinds of waves we are exposed to. On the left, we have higher energy waves that emit ionizing radiation which may lead a person exposed to such radiation to suffer from cancer. But the radiation from smartphones is a combination of Microwaves and Radio waves that are present right next to IR waves and are far from ionizing radiation. So these radiations are not that harmful.

Myths on SAR Value:

MYTH 1: A phone with less SAR value is safe.

MYTH 2: Lesser the SAR value, the less radiation emitted is less.

MYTH 3: A phone with a higher SAR value emits more radiation.

But the truth is the phones will not operate at maximum power levels during everyday use. It means that the maximum reported SAR values for the phone are not the SAR value in regular use.

We might have observed that Area where the signal is low, the phone needs to boost its reception in order to connect to a network, here battery drains faster and also the radiation emitted is more as the phone needs to work more powerfully to get the signal.

To understand this in a better manner, let’s consider two phones Phone A and Phone B

Let’s assume Phone A has a maximum SAR value of 1.2 W/kg and Phone B with 0.9 W/kg.

But with regular usage Phone A may have less SAR value than Phone B. So here pops the question HOW?

Conclusion:

Let's assume some of the factors,

• On what network the phone is connected(2G/3G/4G)
• How close are we located to the tower
• The Service Provider(JIO, Airtel, BSNL, IDEA etc)
• The location and Signal Strength

Based on these factors above the radiation levels may be more or less. The phone manufacturers advise that the phone must be positioned at least 10mm away from your body to meet RF exposure guidelines.

Some advice to use Wired Earphones/Headphones to stay safe to some extent. But my suggestion is don’t use Wireless Bluetooth Earphones/Headphones as they emit radiation in a very small quantity.

--You can check SAR value by dialling a USSD code *#07# on your mobile phone--