Every few months, there is an alarming study about the effect mobile phones are having on the human body. While some talk about the harmful radiation causing brain cancer, other researchers are saying it is too early to have any conclusive data yet.
What is not debated, however, is that talking on the cell phone does lead to your body observing a certain amount of radiation. But how much radiation is dependent on the phone you are using.
CNET has made a list of the radiation levels of all the major cell phones in the US market, and as we understand it, there is little to no difference between the level recorded there and in other countries. The charts list the highest ‘Specific Absorption Rate’ (SAR) of each phone, which is the quantity of radio frequency absorbed by the body while the phone is being used next to one’s ear.
In the US and Canada, the maximum SAR level of a phone has been set at 1.6 watts per kilogram. In Europe and India, phones are not supposed to exceed an SAR of over 2W/kg.
In CNET’s listing, Motorola and BlackBerry phones seem to emit the most amount of radiation, with five Motorola phones and four BlackBerry phones in the top 10 handsets with the highest SAR. The Motorola Zine ZN5 tops the charts of current phones at 1.59W/kg.
Samsung, on the other hand, seems to be the ‘greenest’ of the lot, as it has seven of the top 10 handsets with the least SAR.
For Nokia Users: Those using the Nokia E71x and the E72 face the highest exposure to radiation, with the E71x emitting 1.53W/kg and the E72 improving slightly on that at 1.39W/kg. The touchscreen phones are surprisingly low on the scale, with the 5800 XpressMusic at 0.97W/kg and the N97 Mini at 0.91W/kg. Check the full list here.
For Motorola Users: Surprisingly, Motorola’s low-end handsets seem to emit a lot of radiation. Apart from the aforementioned Zine ZN5, the candybar C139 and the flip-phone C290 – both of which retail in the most inexpensive range of phones – emit SAR levels of 1.45W/kg and 1.53W/kg respectively. While the original Razr series was a bit on the higher side, the Razr2 and Rokr series are at extremely safe levels of SAR. Check the full list of Motorola phones here.
For LG Users: The original LG Chocolate Touch had a really high SAR rating, but the New Chocolate series is quite on the greener side of the scale. The candybar handsets don’t set off the alarms, and in general, LG users can consider themselves safe. But in case you’re curious, here’s the list of LG phones.
For Samsung Users: We couldn’t find ratings for all of Samsung’s most popular phones in India, including the entire Corby series. But from what we can make out, the company’s radiation levels are usually well under control, with only older handsets that are no longer in production being high on the SAR scale. Check your Samsung phone here.
For BlackBerry Users: Business users are not going to be pleased with this one! Research In Motion’s BlackBerry series is hardly has a phone clocking in less than 1.2W/kg, and has quite a few flirting with the 1.6W/kg cutoff. The Curve and Bold are both over 1.51W/kg, while the Curve 8330 tops the charts at 1.53W/kg. Berry Addicts, you’ll want to check this list!
For Apple, HTC and others: The Apple iPhone 3G has an SAR of 1.38W/kg, while the Google Nexus One clocks in at 0.867W/kg. Here’s the list of SAR for all the Apple and HTC phones, as well as a few others. Here’s a list of the SAR ratings of brands apart from the ones listed above.
Credits: Technoholik (ALL credits go to them. Thank you!)
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