SAR (Specific Absorption Rate Value) Of Mobiles & Its Effect On Body / Health

Just read an article on ToI that says buyers must check the SAR value on mobile phones while making a purchase. It's basically a measure of the amount of energy absorbed by the body when exposed to radio frequency electromagnetic waves - emitted by the mobile phones. It's expressed in Watts/Kg and the lower the value means safer the device is to use.

In India, the SAR value limit has been set to 1.6 W/Kg in 1g tissue mass. I obtained the SAR value of the most popular phones in the world -

1Samsung Galaxy Note II0.171 W/Kg
2Samsung Galaxy Nexus0.303 W/Kg
3Samsung Galaxy S30.342 W/Kg
4Google/LG Nexus 40.550 W/Kg
5HTC One S0.687 W/Kg
6Samsung Galaxy Ace0.840 W/Kg
7Apple iPhone 50.901 W/Kg
8Blackberry Z100.970 W/Kg
9Nokia Lumia 9201.080 W/Kg
10Sony Xperia S1.370 W/Kg

I'm just curious to know what kind of effects do higher SAR values cause on the body and what's the best way to deal with it?

Replies

  • Ashraf HZ
    Ashraf HZ
    There's no scientific proof yet on what high SAR of phones can do, only suggestions it increases risk of cancer. Not enough data to conclude. But its better to be safe than sorry 😛 When it comes to EM radiation, its always wise to shield where necessary (if not to protect your body, at least other equipment).

    A simple way to reduce SAR to the head is using hands free. Though, if you place your phone in the pocket, the SAR is at other parts of your body... 👀
  • Apurwa.Thakur
    Apurwa.Thakur
    Kaustubh Katdare
    Just read an article on ToI that says buyers must check the SAR value on mobile phones while making a purchase. It's basically a measure of the amount of energy absorbed by the body when exposed to radio frequency electromagnetic waves - emitted by the mobile phones. It's expressed in Watts/Kg and the lower the value means safer the device is to use.

    In India, the SAR value limit has been set to 1.6 W/Kg in 1g tissue mass. I obtained the SAR value of the most popular phones in the world -

    1Samsung Galaxy Note II0.171 W/Kg
    2Samsung Galaxy Nexus0.303 W/Kg
    3Samsung Galaxy S30.342 W/Kg
    4Google/LG Nexus 40.550 W/Kg
    5HTC One S0.687 W/Kg
    6Samsung Galaxy Ace0.840 W/Kg
    7Apple iPhone 50.901 W/Kg
    8Blackberry Z100.970 W/Kg
    9Nokia Lumia 9201.080 W/Kg
    10Sony Xperia S1.370 W/Kg

    I'm just curious to know what kind of effects do higher SAR values cause on the body and what's the best way to deal with it?
    hello,
    It is wrong assumption that using a cell phone with a lower SAR value decreases a user’s exposure to RF emissions or safer than using a cell phone with a high SAR value.

    SAR value is important tool in judging the maximum possible exposure of radiation from particular mobile.SAR value collected by FCC to ensure that Cellphone should not exceed the maximum permissible exposure level.

    Cellphone vary power to operate minimum power necessary for communication.Therefor cell phones cannot be compared for their overall exposure characteristics on the basis of a single SAR value .

    You may ask further queries.
  • Ramani Aswath
    Ramani Aswath
    Way back in the early 80s we tried to do some work on this at our institute in collaboraion with the Regional Cancer Centre, Trivandrum. After some preliminary work we found that the small study we could conduct would not lead to any meaningful conclusions and abandoned the program. Even now with many agencies working on it and fairly large numbers involved, there is no definite results to show that cell phones pose a hazard.
    This fact sheet from the Natinonal Cancer Institute in the National Institutes of Health summarizes findings from world wide studies:
    #-Link-Snipped-#

    #-Link-Snipped-#

    As can be sen there is nothing conclusive.
  • Sarathkumar Chandrasekaran
    Sarathkumar Chandrasekaran
    Can we trust the Company's certificates?
    Is it reliable?😁
  • Ramani Aswath
    Ramani Aswath
    SAR value per se may not mean much in the context of current knowledge.

    #-Link-Snipped-#

    #-Link-Snipped-#

    May be it is better to err on the lower side. The problem is that with so many variables involved, some of the results are contradictory. There does not appear to be any monotonous correlation between the reported (this could be biased as it is subjective) usage of cell phones and the incidence of brain tumours. There seems to be a higher (though very slight) incidence of brain tumours in non users over low level users of cell phones.
  • Apurwa.Thakur
    Apurwa.Thakur
    A.V.Ramani
    Way back in the early 80s we tried to do some work on this at our institute in collaboraion with the Regional Cancer Centre, Trivandrum. After some preliminary work we found that the small study we could conduct would not lead to any meaningful conclusions and abandoned the program. Even now with many agencies working on it and fairly large numbers involved, there is no definite results to show that cell phones pose a hazard.
    This fact sheet from the Natinonal Cancer Institute in the National Institutes of Health summarizes findings from world wide studies:
    #-Link-Snipped-# tsheet/Risk/cellphones

    As can be sen there is nothing conclusive.
    "page not found " of your link
  • Ramani Aswath
    Ramani Aswath
    Apurwa.Thakur
    "page not found " of your link
    It works here in the US, where I have come for a visit. I checked the link as given here with preview. It seems to work. I edited the original post as well.
    I give the link again:
    #-Link-Snipped-#
  • Wasique Picturewala
    Wasique Picturewala
    Very Very Helpful. Thanks 👍
  • ajith nayakkar
    ajith nayakkar
    Higher SAR value means higher exposure to radiation.
    Higher exposure to radiation may encourage cancer cells growth. and also causes learning disability.
    prevention is better than cure. so use the mobiles with SAR values only upto 0.600 W/Kg.
    doctors don't recommend higher SAR valued mobiles for aged persons.

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