I write so many reviews on Bluetooth wireless headphones and one thing that came to my notice that suddenly the internet has started discussions on Do Bluetooth Wireless Headphones Pose Brain Cancer Risk?
So I started investigation and researched the different articles and websites (see list at the end of post)
And my executive summary for you is as follows.
Do Bluetooth Wireless Headphones Pose Brain Cancer Risk?
Yes, Cell phones can cause cancer in rats! ( Read complete article here )
FCC SAR limit for exposure to RF energy from wireless devices is 1.6 watts per kilogram (watts/kg)
Bluetooth® headphones limit SAR value is around 0.001 watts/kg which is less than 1000th SAR limit for cell phones as set by the FDA and FCC.
Still Wearing Bluetooth® headphones like AirPods for hours and days / months is not a good idea indeed
Using Speakerphone or Wired headphones is a BEST idea as a preventive measure
Reading so many things I got thoroughly confused if really the cell phones and the Bluetooth wireless headphones will cause brain cancer to humans!
First thing that I came to know is the internet discussions fired as a result of story published last Thursday on 7 March 2019 on Medium.com with heading “Are AirPods and Other Bluetooth Headphones Safe?”
It mentioned about the declaration .. also quoted “My concern for AirPods is that their placement in the ear canal exposes tissues in the head to relatively high levels of radiofrequency radiation,” by one of the signees, named Professor Jerry Phillips, from the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs.
Second thing that I understood is that Cell phones may cause cancer in rats!
Now after going through an article on qz.com I understood that there is a research paper published by US scientists which shows that cell phones radiation could cause cancer in rats! ( Read complete article here )
How do I reduce the risk of radiation to brain from cell phones?
I believe that prevention is better than cure …
So simple things that you can surely do to avoid speaking over the cell phone for prolonged time, but what if that is unavoidable as a part of your job?
- Try using a speakerphone so that you speak over phone without bringing it near to the head (brain)
- If using speakerphone in office is not possible (always) then use the wireless Bluetooth earphones or wired earphones
Now you might say that using wireless headphones will still have risk of radiations!
TRUE – but as said, the allowable FCC SAR limit for exposure to RF energy from wireless devices is 1.6 watts per kilogram (watts/kg), as averaged over one gram of tissue. Whereas the Bluetooth® earpieces limit SAR value is around 0.001 watts/kg (less than one thousandth the SAR limit for cell phones as set by the FDA and FCC).
What it means is that you reduce radiation exposure to minimal still fulfilling need of speaking over phone.
Using wired headphones is still the best way, since they will not emit any RF radiations at all, but may not be feasible to use always. - Now that you have learnt that Bluetooth devices delivers much lower dose of radiation than cell phones, there is one more logic I prefer wireless Bluetooth headphones over mobile phones
Directly using a mobile phone near head (brain) causes higher risk of RF exposure, since the device is also trying to communicate to the mobile phone towers (and if the signal is weak it will try to boost signal using more power) …. whereas the Bluetooth headphone has to only communicate with your phone which is just 2-3 feet away and works on Low Energy Protocol (LE), what this logic tells you that surely you get very small radiation exposure using Bluetooth headphones than directly using cell phone.
Having said that I surely warn you not to wear Wireless Bluetooth headphones like Airpods for hours and hours (unless extremely urgent) .. even though most of the studies and information from the FDA and the World Health Organization (WHO), among other organizations, to date, shows that the weight of scientific evidence has not effectively linked exposure to radio frequency energy from mobile devices with any known health problems.
Its common sense that low dose of Bluetooth radiation for hours together is not a good idea in itself! what do you say?
WARNING!
Wireless devices might interfere with implanted cardiac pacemakers if used within 8 inches of the pacemaker. So such patients may avoid using a wireless device this close to their pacemaker.
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