What is sar radiation on smartphones

From time to time, some news item appears in the media that tries to link the radiation emitted by certain technological devices (especially smartphones) with different types of cancer. And although there are no conclusive studies that unequivocally confirm the cause and effect relationship between the two variables, there are no studies that prove otherwise. But the fact that it has not yet been confirmed does not necessarily imply that it does not exist. Consequently, this may be a good time to better understand what SAR radiation from smartphones is and what possible effects on our health it could cause.

Index of contents

SAR radiation

What we are calling “SAR radiation” in this article is nothing more than an acronym derived from the English Specific Absorption Rate, that is , the Specific Absorption Rate in Spanish. In the area we are dealing with, that of mobile telephony, it is a measure or rate that allows us to know the amount of energy that our body absorbs while being under the influence of the electromagnetic field generated by a smartphone.

Each smartphone model generates a different electromagnetic field, so the amount of energy that the human body will absorb will vary depending on the mobile phone that we are using.

For those more experts in the field of science and who are more proficient in its technicalities, we find a fairly technical description on Wikipedia: “measure of the maximum power with which a radio frequency electromagnetic field is absorbed by living tissue, although it can also be refer to the absorption of other forms of energy by the tissue, including ultrasound. It is defined as the power absorbed by the mass of the tissues and has units of watts per kilogram (W / kg). It is used for frequencies between 100 kHz and 100 GHz, that is, non-ionizing radiation, and in particular for mobile phones and magnetic resonance ”. From this we can deduce that SAR radiation is not exclusive to mobile telephony, nor to the electromagnetic field generated by radio frequency.

Despite the fact that there are no conclusive studies regarding the relationship between SARs and negative effects on health, (or at least whoever writes you is unaware of their existence), the legal limit in the European Union has been established at 2 W / kg, for what no smartphone can surpass it. Meanwhile, in the United States, the FCC or Federal Communications Commission lowers that limit to a SAR rate of 1.6 W / kg or less.

Currently, the SAR rate of most mobile phones ranges from 0.3 to 1 W / kg (half the established legal limit), although there are models that can even exceed the rate of 1.5 W / kg.

Which smartphones emit the highest SAR radiation

Based on the information collected and provided by the German Office for radiation protection, the Statista firm concluded in the first quarter of 2018 that the smartphone that emits the most SAR radiation is the very popular Xiaomi Mi A1 with 1.75 W / kg. On the opposite side, the Sony Xperia M5 at just 0.14 W / kg.

Top 10 smartphones that emit the most SAR radiation

1. Xiaomi Mi A1 - 1.75 w / kg OnePlus 5T - 1.68 w / kg Huawei Mate 9 - 1.64 w / kg Nokia Lumia 630 - 1.51 w / kg Huawei P9 Plus - 1.48 w / kg Huawei GX8 - 1.44 w / kg Huawei P9 - 1.43 w / kg Huawei Nova Plus - 1.41 w / kg OnePlus 5 - 1.39 w / kg Huawei P9 Lite - 1.38 w / kg

Top 10 smartphones that emit less SAR radiation

1. Sony Xperia M5 - 0.14 w / kg Samsung Galaxy Note 8 - 0.17 w / kg Samsung Galaxy S6 edge + - 0.22 w / kg Google Pixel XL - 0.25 w / kg Samsung Galaxy S8 + - 0.26 w / kg Samsung Galaxy S7 edge - 0.26 w / kg ZTE Blade A910 - 0.27 w / kg LG Q6 - 0.28 w / kg 2016 Samsung Galaxy A5 - 0.29 w / kg Motorola Moto G5 Plus - 0.30 w / kg

And although you may never have considered the level of SAR radiation when choosing your mobile phone, and despite the fact that the studies carried out have not yet been conclusive, considering that the authorities have established legal limits, it is probably better to prevent.