October 18th, 2007
Meet the most radiation-intensive cellphone you can buy
On the CNET Reviews side of our big content tent, we offer a frequently updated Cell phone radiation chart.
This chart uses a standard called Specific Absorption Rate a way of measuring the quantity of radiofrequency (RF) energy that is absorbed by the body.” The good folks at CNET Reviews note that for a phone to pass FCC certification, that phone’s maximum SAR level must be less than 1.6W/kg (watts per kilogram). In Europe, the level is capped at 2W/kg while Canada allows a maximum of 1.6W/kg.
“The SAR level listed in our charts represents the highest SAR level with the phone next to the ear as tested by the FCC,” CNET Reviews notes.
Above that maximum, there are some concerns that elevated SAR levels can introduce cancer into lab animals.
I said lab animals. Not enough testing has been performed in humans to make the same assertions. Still, though, there is research that elevated SAR levels can interfere with pacemakers.
Definitely not OK on that one.
OK so back on track here. I checked the list of U.S. phone models with the highest SARs.
Only one of these phones reached the 1.6 SAR level.
That’d be the T-Mobile Motorola v19s. Right at 1.6.
If you want to know more, colleague Kent German has a review here.
Readers, are you concerned about the Moto v19s’s SAR level to the point you would rule out buying this device?
Russell Shaw is an enterprise computing journalist, analyst and author based in Portland, Oregon. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
