Question 1

Should I worry about radiation from my cellphone?

Accepted Answer

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that cellphones use radiofrequency radiation, which is different from other types of radiation, such as X-rays, that are known to be harmful with repeated exposure. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said that “the weight of scientific evidence has not linked exposure to radio frequency energy from cell phone use with any health problems,” while the American Cancer Society “does not have an official position” on the issue. Some experts say the main concern about radiofrequency radiation is its potential to raise the temperature of body tissues, but European standards are 10 times lower than the threshold at which thermal effects occur, said Rodney Croft, a professor at the University of Wollongong in Australia and chairman of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection. “In terms of health and safety, the exposure magnitude that they reported there is not sufficient to do any harm to anyone,” he said. Martin Gledhill, an independent electromagnetic field consultant who advises New Zealand’s Health Ministry, concurred. “Everyone has to make their own decision, but I would not be concerned,” he said by email, noting that phones are tested at their maximum transmit power. “In practice, they typically only transmit using power 50 to 100 times lower than the maximum (or even lower still), which would be well below the legal (and health-based) limit,” he wrote. However, Joel Moskowitz, director of the Center for Family and Community Health at the University of California at Berkeley, said phone companies “should be competing on safety,” as carmakers do. He pointed to his 2020 meta-analysis that suggested that using a cellphone for a cumulative call time of more than 1,000 hours was associated with increased risk of tumors. The paper was criticized for including multiple tumor types that have different causes.

Question 2

What does the research say about cellphone radiation?

Accepted Answer

The findings are mixed. The issue is difficult to study — scientists can’t ethically expose humans to high radiation, and studies that ask people to reflect on their phone usage are prone to human error. A $25 million National Institutes of Health study using rats and mice found a higher risk of tumors, DNA or tissue damage, and lower body weight in some rodents exposed to very high levels of cellphone radiation. When the study was released in 2018, John Bucher, a scientist involved in the research, told reporters that he could not extrapolate from the data to health effects on humans. Findings that male rats developed tumors in the nerves around their heart suggested that cellphone radiation could be a “weak” carcinogen, Bucher said. “At this point we don’t feel that we understand enough about the results to place a huge degree of confidence in the findings,” he told The Washington Post in 2018. Bucher also said, “I have not changed the way I use a cellphone, no.” A 2010 Interphone study, conducted by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer and partly funded by the cellphone industry, looked at patients in 13 countries. The study found no overall increase in risk of glioma or meningioma — two types of brain tumors — in mobile phone users. At the highest exposure levels, researchers found an increased risk of glioma, “but biases and error prevent a causal interpretation,” they wrote, noting that the “effects of long-term heavy use of mobile phones require further investigation.” Gledhill said much of the research over the past 10 to 15 years has looked at cancer registry data. “Even allowing for a delay between phone usage and a brain tumor developing, these cancer registry studies do not show a relationship between the numbers of people using cellphones and the incidence of brain tumors,” he said.

Question 3

Why has France asked Apple to stop selling the iPhone 12?

Accepted Answer

The ANFR recently inspected 141 mobile phones on the French market and found that, when measured in conditions that simulate the phone in a hand or pocket, the iPhone 12 exceeded the country’s maximum restriction for radio frequency waves (RF radiation).

Question 4

How is radiation from cellphones measured?

Accepted Answer

Cellphone radiation is measured using the specific absorption rate (SAR), which indicates how much power is absorbed by the body from a particular source, per kilogram of body weight. A measurement of one watt per kilogram, for example, means that there is one watt of energy absorbed in a kilogram of body mass. In the French regulator’s test, the iPhone 12’s SAR was 5.74 W/kg when tested at 0 millimeter distance, which is above the 4 W/kg permitted in Europe for that distance. The test was designed to simulate carrying the phone in a hand or pocket. When tested at a 5 millimeter distance — conditions that simulate the device being in one’s bag or jacket — the device complied with regulations of 2 W/kg. In the United States, the standards for cellphone radiation exposure are considered stricter than in Europe, though the radiation is measured slightly differently. The Apple website, which provides RF exposure information for its various devices, says the iPhone 12’s SAR is below countries’ set limits.

Question 5

If I’m still concerned, what can I do to protect myself?

Accepted Answer

“Distance is your friend,” said Moskowitz. The good news is that the way many people use cellphones today incorporates distance. Using headphones, talking on speaker phone or using text messages may lower risk of exposure.

Question 6

How do I check my iPhone’s radiation levels?

Accepted Answer

You can find your iPhone’s radiation test levels under Setting > General > Legal & Regulatory > RF Exposure. Keep in mind that these are results from Apple tests, and a device’s emissions vary widely based on usage and reception. “The exposure coming out of your phone is changing all of the time,” Croft said. “It’s not that it’s just set at a certain level.”

Question 7

What happens next?

Accepted Answer

Other European countries could block sales of the iPhone 12. Germany’s network regulator said it may launch similar proceedings, Reuters reported, while Spain’s Organization of Users and Consumers called on authorities to temporarily withdraw the phone from the market. Apple has two weeks to respond to the French regulator. If it fails to remedy the issue, Digital Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told the newspaper Le Parisien, he is “prepared to order a recall of all iPhones 12 in circulation.”

France bans iPhone 12 sales over radiation levels: Here’s what to know

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