Description

If you’re older than 30, you probably remember when your cell phone had a tiny screen and a big antenna using 2G wireless networks.

Yeah, a longgggg time ago.

But that’s the LAST time the Federal Communications Commission, or the FCC, set a safety limit on cell phone radiation emissions, called Specific Absorption Rate, or SAR.

Back in 1996 when it set its current SAR standards, it was only concerned with limiting the thermal effects of your cell phone’s Radio Frequency (RF) radiation emissions.

For example, the FCC’s standard for how much your phone could heat up your head is 1.6 watts per kilogram.

However, this only limits short-term thermal effects of cell phone radiation, and doesn’t take into account the evidence showing phone emissions can biologically damage your cells, apart from thermal damage.

These biological changes, like DNA fragmentation and oxidative stress, can happen regardless of how much your tissues heat up.

And with the updated 4G and 5G wireless networks and enhanced phone capabilities, updated safety standards for cell phones should reflect not only thermal but also biological impacts of cell phone radiation.