The smartphone have been an integral part of our daily life for years: for this reason it is essential to ensure that their use, even in the long term, does not cause damage to our health.
In this regard, reference is often made to SAR values (Specific Absorption Rate) ed electromagnetic emissions of smartphones and other electronic devices, which vary considerably according to different factors of production and use.
Let’s try to clarify any effects of prolonged exposure to mobile devices and on legislation in place at the international level.
SAR values: what are they?
Telecommunications rely on high frequency electromagnetic fields (between 450 and 2700MHz) to transmit information without the need for cables. Unlike other types of radiation such as X-rays, electromagnetic waves are classified as radiation non-ionizingthat is, unable to break the chemical bonds of the bodies with which they come into contact.
However when using a device such as a smartphone, the body part nearest will partially absorb the energy emitted by these electromagnetic fields and dissipate it in the form of heat.
THE SAR values (Specific Absorption Rate) indicate, as the proper name suggests, the quantity of power absorbed by the head or part of the human body in contact with a telephone or any other telecommunication device.
The unit of measurement of the SAR values is therefore J / sx Kg =W / kg and refers to the absorption rate of radio frequency energy (W) per unit of body mass (kg).
How are SAR values measured?
The measurement of the SAR values of smartphones is carried out by means of the tomographic magnetic resonance (RMT), a procedure that simulates different situations of use of the device in contact respectively with the head and with the body human.
The detection of SAR values is therefore bound to the position in which the smartphone is used in daily use, which is why we find for each device a value corresponding to the use in contact with the body and another value for the use in contact with theear.
This last condition is the one to be monitored more carefully, since the user’s ear positioned in most cases near the antenna of the devices during calls vowels.
L’equipment for this survey, carried out in specialized laboratories and test centers, it includes:
- A probe magnetic field, which carries out the detection of SAR values properly so-called;
- A robotic arm on which the smartphone under examination is placed;
- A basin or a mannequin anthropometric, that is modeled on the density of the parts of the human body.
The average result reported on safety certificates of the devices is obtained after multiple tests. In any case, smartphones are tested using i maximum values possible, obtained in conditions of use of antenna and sensors often far from daily use.
Are there any risks to our health?
Before continuing with the legislation in this regard, it is good to specify what the current state of affairs is the link between high-frequency electromagnetic fields such as those emitted by smartphones and human health.
First of all, it is necessary to reiterate what has already been mentioned above: unlike ionizing radiation, electromagnetic fields emitted by telecommunications they do not cause direct harm altering the composition of the tissues with which they come into contact. Nonetheless, there is still the possibility of having effects biologicalor changes in the short or long term, following exposure.
Taking into account the SAR values of smartphones specifically, theWHO declares that up to this moment some health side effects caused by the use of cell phones have not been reported. The organization then argues for this claim by dividing the studies carried out between short-term and long-term effects.
Regarding the effects a short term of exposure to smartphones, the tests conducted did not reveal any correlation between exposure to electromagnetic fields and the alteration of vital functions. Likewise they result without foundation cases of sensitivity to electromagnetic waves.
The case of effects a is different long termespecially considering that telecommunications is a relatively technology recent. Epidemiological studies conducted so far and still ongoing have not found a direct correlation between exposure to electromagnetic fields and the onset of brain tumors.
Studies have found a moderate increase the onset of gliomas and acoustic nerve tumors in 10% of users subjected to exposure more intensefor example in work contexts and / or with more backward technologies than those in use today, without however arriving at sufficient data to establish a correlation between the two events.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has therefore classified the exposure to electromagnetic fields with the category 2B, “Possibly carcinogenic to humans”.
This should not, however, cause alarm, since this classification it’s used when a causal relationship is to be considered plausible, but at the same time chance, partiality or prejudice cannot be excluded with reasonable certainty; in addition to smartphones, caffeine and pickled vegetables are also part of it.
The IARC monitors for some time now the consequences of the use of smartphones and the possible onset of long-term consequences, with the collaboration of five centers including the BfS (Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz, a German body which owns the SAR value register of smartphones).
To know more
Given the nature of the arguments taken into consideration in this paragraph, we leave the sources used for those wishing to further investigate the issue:
What are the maximum SAR values for smartphones?
In light of the possible long-term effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields have been adopted measures internationally to regulate i maximum SAR values of smartphones placed on the market.
Since 1999 theEuropean Union has set an upper limit on the SAR values emitted by phones, revised to include more stringent testing criteria in 2017. The International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) has set this limit at 2W / kg on 10 grams of fabric.
Even more stringent are the regulations in the United States: the government agency FCC in its guidelines it sets the upper limit for SAR values a 1.6W / kghowever, measured on 1 gram of fabric.
SAR-Tick
The compliance label SAR-Tick is the result of the effort of Mobile & Wireless Forum to communicate to consumers the compliance of the devices with current legislation and help them to easily find information about it.
The green SAR-Tick label is therefore found in the manual instructions of each smartphone on the market and indicates the compliance of the device at the maximum limits of national and international SAR values, measured as already mentioned in very high limit situations compared to daily use.
How to check the SAR values of a smartphone
If you want to check the SAR values of your smartphone or a model you are thinking of buying, they exist different ways to do it.
First there is a dialer code dedicated for Android smartphones: * # 07 #. By typing it, a screen dedicated to security certificates will automatically open, including the SAR values of the smartphone.
The same information will be found by law in the booklet of instructionsbut also in the vast majority of cases in the data sheet on the manufacturer’s website.
Alternatively, if you prefer compare the SAR values of two or more models in anticipation of the purchase, you can rely on the aforementioned register of the BfS, which the institution periodically updates to include the maximum SAR values for the European Union of smartphones on the market as well as obsolete models.
Some manufacturers, including Apple and Samsung, eventually publish the SAR values of their smartphone models in one page website of their website, as listed below:
Smartphone with higher SAR values
Below is the ranking of smartphones with SAR values (ear) taller based on the data contained in the register of the BfS and the infographic made public by Statesman:
In any case, although the SAR values are higher than the competition, all these devices have values lower compared to the maximum limit established in the European Union.
High SAR values: the ranking
- Motorola Edge – 1.79 W / Kg
- ZTE Axon 11 5G – 1.59 W / Kg
- OnePlus 6T – 1.55 W / Kg
- Sony Xperia XA2 Plus – 1.41 W / Kg
- Google Pixel 3 XL / 3a XL – 1.39 W / Kg
- Google Pixel 4a – 1.37 W / Kg
- Oppo Reno 5G – 1.37 W / Kg
- Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact – 1.36 W / Kg
Smartphone with lower SAR values
Likewise, based on data from the BfS these are the smartphones currently available on the market that instead emit SAR levels lower:
Low SAR values: the ranking
- ZTE Blade V10 – 0.13 W / Kg
- ZTE Azon Elite – 0.17 W / Kg
- Samsung Galaxy Note 10 + / 5G – 0.19 W / Kg
- Samsung Galaxy Note 10 – 0.21 W / Kg
- Samsung Galaxy A80 – 0.22 W / Kg
- Samsung Galaxy A72 – 0.23 W / Kg
- LG G7 ThinQ – 0.24 W / Kg
- Samsung Galaxy S20 FE – 0.24 W / Kg
SAR values of the top of the range 2022
Finally, we report the SAR values referred to the ear exposure of the main smartphones top of the range 2022. We will update this list periodically, whenever manufacturers make these criteria publicly known.
- iPhone 13 – 0.98 W / Kg
- iPhone 13 Pro Max – 0.99 W / Kg
- Samsung Galaxy S22 – 1.03 W / Kg
- Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra – 1.05 W / Kg
- Oppo Find X5 Pro – nd
- realme GT 2 Pro – 1.16 W / Kg
- OnePlus 10 Pro 5G – nd
- Xiaomi 12 – 0.59 W / Kg
What precautions should you take?
Having reached the end of this study, it is possible that despite the security measures put in place, theexposure electromagnetic fields resulting from the use of smartphones still worry you, especially if you use this type of device for a long time.
Both the World Health Organization and the BfS agree on precautions to be taken to effectively reduce exposure to the electromagnetic field of smartphones, including:
- Give preference to smartphones with lower SAR valueseven if, as we have seen, the difference is often so small that it does not in itself constitute a binding factor for the purchase;
- Use earphones or headphones to make calls instead of placing the phone to your ear for extended periods of time;
- Prefer browsing through Wifi and do not overlap calls and Internet traffic via mobile data;
- Keep one distance even minimal between the phone and your body when carrying it.
