SAR ratings are a measure of how much average radiation is being absorbed over 1 gram of human tissue. This is calculated in W/kg (Watts per kilogram of bodyweight). The original researcher who developed SAR ratings, Om P. Gandhi, observed that rats whose brain temperature rose by more than 2 degrees suddenly stopped eating. 

This research formed the basis of the SAR safety limit of 2.0 W/kg and 1.6 W/kg. However, many scientists insist that these limits are too lenient and allow radiation exposures that have been shown to have adverse effects in hundreds of peer reviewed published studies.

The SAR test is only relevant to heating effects of cell phone and wireless radiation. SAR limits do not consider the large amount of scientific evidence that indicates heating is not the only harm from cell phone radiation. Seemingly “low” cell phone radiation levels (far below SAR limits) that do not induce measurable changes in heat can have adverse impacts on biological systems. Cancer, reproductive damage, neurodegenerative diseases, enhanced production of damaging free radicals and reactive oxygen species, membrane weakening, and damage to heat shock proteins are all non-thermal effects that have been found to occur following cell phone radiation exposures at levels far below SAR regulatory limits. SAR limits do not adequately protect public health.

How to Stay Within SAR Guidlines:

• Be a 6’2″, 220 pound military man.
  If you have a smaller head, are a shorter man, a woman or a child… you’ll exceed the limits.
• Always use your phone at least 5mm away from your head.
  Some phones SAR values are even tested at larger distances, as make sure to read the fine print inside your phone to determine the safe distance.
• Only use your phone for 6 minutes a day, maximum,
  If you use your phone for longer than 6 minutes you will exceed SAR guidelines.
• Never keep your phone in your pocket, in your hand or in your bar.
  You will expose yourself to radiation that is not accounted for by SAR guidelines.
• Dont have ears.
  SAR values only measure the radiation that gets into your brain, the potential absorption of your skin and ears are not included in SAR guidelines.
• Have a liquid brain.
  SAR guidelines are based on those with brains made from water, sugar and salt. If your brain consists of matter, then SAR guidelines do not apply to you.
• Never use a phone case.

Several research studies of humans indicate that long-term cell phone use could increase a person’s risk for brain tumors. The latest animal study conducted by the U.S. government finds increases in the same types of tumors found to be increased in humans who used phones regularly for a decade or longer.

The World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer classified radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B) in 2011, based on epidemiological research showing an increased risk for glioma, a malignant type of brain cancer , associated with long term wireless phone use. These research studies also show an even higher risk for persons who start using cell phones at a young age.

In the Interphone study, those who used a mobile phone for 10 or more years were found to be twice as likely to develop a brain tumor, a statistically significant finding. The heaviest users with the longest use had increased risk. 

View more studies linking cell phones to brain tumors here. 

From 2015-2017 the 3rd leading cause of death in Australian children between the ages of 1-14 was brain cancer. Clearly, we, as a community, need to take greater precaution when exposing children to W.H.O-admitted carcinogens, such as wireless RF emissions from mobile phone.

• Studies show that children are more vulnerable to harmful effects from wireless radiation than adults.
• The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer’s 2013 Monograph on Radio frequency fields details the research showing how “the average RF energy deposition is twice as high in certain regions of children’s brains and up to 10 times higher in the bone marrow of children’s skulls, compared to energy deposition in adult brains and skulls.”
• A five year old can absorb sixty percent more microwave radiation than an adult.
• Children have thinner skulls (deeper penetration), more water in brain (conductor), and are of smaller size which allows greater absorption into bone and deeper tissues.
• Children have more vulnerable immune and neurological systems as they are not fully developed until early twenties.
• Cancers can have long latency periods (time from first exposure until diagnosis) and it will take decades before we know the full extent of health impacts from this radiation.
• Current standards were not developed with children’s vulnerabilities in mind.

UCLA researchers (Divan, et al 2008) studied 13,000 mothers and children and found that prenatal exposure to cell phones was associated with a higher risk for behavioral problems and hyperactivity in children. Scientists continue to conduct research on the human impact of wireless radiation exposure.

A study (Aldad, et al 2012) conducted at Yale University found that pregnant laboratory mice exposed to ordinary cell phone radiation produced offspring that were more hyperactive and had poorer memories compared to a control group that was not exposed. Dr. Hugh Taylor, Chair of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at Yale University School of Medicine and his team of researchers concluded that cell phone radiation had damaged neurons in the prefrontal cortex of the brain.

Dr. De-Kun Li’s 2018 prospective study of over 900 pregnant women showed a 3 fold increase in miscarriage rates with higher levels of everyday radio-frequency radiation exposure. 

More than two hundred physicians, scientists and public health professionals from around the world have joined together to express their concern about the risk that wireless radiation poses to pregnancy and urge pregnant women to limit their exposures. View the Joint Statement on Pregnancy and Wireless Radiation