The word “radiation” immediately conjures up images of smoke clouds, melting faces, and mutated children. And why not? Pop culture (The Terminator, Dr Strangelove, The Day After) and the terrifying reality of the bombings of Hiroshima-Nagasaki as well as the disasters of Chernobyl and Fukushima have planted these images in our minds and led us to a collective paranoia.
Radiation, however, is a much more benign term, applying to everything from light to heat to sound. What really matters is the type and intensity of radiation we are exposed to. When it comes to cell phones, there are only two types of radiation we need to worry about: ionizing and non-ionizing radiation.
Ionizing radiation is electromagnetic radiation that has enough energy to separate electrons from atoms, that is, it is strong enough to ionize atoms. This type of radiation is indeed carcinogenic, and a high enough dosage can affect any living thing, from simple bacteria to humans. Even in this case, the key word is “dosage”. Ultraviolet light, for example, is ionizing radiation, and we are exposed to it all the time. We are also constantly bombarded by ionizing radiation that travels thousands of light years through space and ends up here on planet Earth. But it comes in small doses, and that is what makes the difference.
Bananas are more likely to cause cancer
Foods that are rich in potassium, such as bananas, also emit some form of ionizing radiation. Also, if you take a lot of flights, you get more radiation than the average person.
But here's the catch. Cell phones only emit non-ionizing radiation, which is basically harmless. This is radiation that doesn't have enough energy to ionize molecules, but can, at high intensity, cause some amount of local heat. This is the principle on which the microwave oven is based.
Cell phones emit harmless, non-ionizing radiation at levels far below any known harmful limits. This emission is at least 400-600 times less powerful than that of a microwave oven. It is similar to the electromagnetic radiation from a light bulb.
Dr. Bhavin Jankharia, a radiologist, stresses: “There is no evidence to suggest that cell phones produce [harmful] radiation – as they are today or have been for the last 8-10 years.” This is also true for smartphones .If you put a Geiger counter on a cell phone, you are not going to hear any ominous ticking.
Statista's report on cell phone radiation is alarming
If you've been following the recent news, you would have noticed articles with alarming headlines and excerpts talking about how OnePlus and Xiaomi emit harmful levels of radiation.
“Would you buy a phone that emits maximum radiation even if it’s cheap?” asks one website. “Reports in recent years suggest that prolonged exposure to radiation from smartphones can cause head tumors and can affect male fertility,” writes another.
However, there is no single, comprehensive, and scientifically sound study to confirm any of these claims. If anything, studies say the exact opposite is true.
Statista has compiled a list of the most radiation-emitting smartphones, as tested by the German Federal Office for Radiation Protection (Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz). The list shows the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) of each phone. SAR measures the rate at which radiation is absorbed by the human body in terms of power per unit mass of tissue (W/kg). Again, it should be noted that the radiation measured here is harmless non-ionizing radiation, which other reports have ignored.
According to the Statista report, the Xiaomi Mi A1, Mi Max 3, OnePlus 5T, and OnePlus 6T emit the most radiation (from 1.55 W to 1.78 W, not necessarily in that order).
India and the US, two of the countries with the strictest radiation laws, set an acceptable SAR of 1.6 W/kg. In Germany, the limit is 2 W/kg. While it may seem like Xiaomi and OnePlus are violating Indian and US standards, the Times of India report points out that the variants sold in India have a lower SAR and are fully compliant with Indian laws.
As the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) notes, “Many people mistakenly assume that using a mobile phone with a lower SAR value reduces the user’s exposure to radio frequency emissions or is somehow safer than using a mobile phone with a high SAR value.”.
Again, the SAR value measured by the FCC, TRAI and other organizations is only a measure of the maximum radiation emitted by a mobile phone at a single moment, during testing. In summary:
- Mobile phones emit harmless non-ionizing radiation
- Non-ionizing radiation can cause local heat in extreme conditions
- The SAR limit set by India, the US and other governments is much lower than that at which non-ionizing radiation can damage biological tissue
- The SAR limit, as set by the FCC and TRAI, is NOT an indicator of the radiation emitted in real-world conditions.
Another factor that was overlooked in the reports is the fact that Europe uses a different average for measuring SAR than countries like India and the US. This means that the testing process is slightly different, which will result in some variation in the results.
