A Report on Non-Ionizing Radiation

SARs: Microwave News Article Archive (2004 - )

July 12, 2020

“Absorption of 5G Radiation in Brain Tissue as a Function of Frequency, Power and Time,” IEEE Access, June 12 2020, updated July 2, 2020.

”We examine the beam penetration, absorption and thermal diffusion at representative 4G and 5G frequencies and show that the RF heating increases rapidly with frequency due to decreasing RF source wavelength and increasing power density with the same incident power and exposure time.”

April 23, 2019

“Microwave Emissions from Cell Phones Exceed Safety Limits in Europe and the U.S. When Touching the Body,” IEEE Access, posted April 18, 2019.

“[New] data corroborate our findings that most cell phones will exceed the safety guidelines when held against the body by factors of 1.6–3.7 times for the European/ICNIRP standard or by factors as high as 11 if 1-g SAR values were to be measured as required by the U.S. FCC.” By Om Gandhi. Open access.

July 13, 2015

“Yes the Children Are More Exposed to RF Energy from Mobile Telephones than Adults,” IEEE Access, posted online July 10, 2015.

“[I]t is very hard to understand why the FCC allows the use of a [model based on the] head size of the U.S. military recruits for [peak spatial] SAR compliance testing against safety guidelines” (open access). See also our “Children and Cell Phones: Time To Start Making Sense.”

April 24, 2014

Bill Guy, “Father” of SARs, Dies at 85

Arthur W. Guy, known to all as Bill, died on April 20^th at the age of 85. Guy will be best remembered as the leading proponent of the use of specific absorption rates (SARs) as a way of measuring the radiation dose associated with RF/MW exposure.

Guy received a doctorate in electrical engineering in 1966 from the University of Washington, Seattle, and then joined the UW faculty where he remained until his retirement in 1991. He stayed active as a consultant over the next 15 years. He served as a prominent...

August 7, 2012

GAO to FCC: “Reassess” RF Limits for Cell Phones

In its much-anticipated report, released today, the GAO told the FCC to take a fresh look at its cell phone exposure standard and the way the phones are tested for compliance with that limit. The 46-page report is available here.

Julius Knapp, the chief of the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology, responded that he...

May 3, 2010

Children and Cell Phones: Time To Start Talking Sense

Fifteen years ago Om Gandhi pointed out that children are exposed to higher levels of radiation from cell phones than adults. He was right then and he is right today. Yet, no one could blame you for thinking otherwise.

In an article published in the May issue of Harper's, Nathaniel Rich uses this putative controversy, among a number of other examples, to make the case that confusion reigns in all aspects of cell-phone research. "The brain of a child absorbs a much greater amount of radiation from a cell phone than does the brain of an adult," he writes, adding immediately after, "No, it does not."

October 19, 2007

Cell Phone SARs: Highs and Lows

The five U.S. cell phones with the highest SARs are all made by Motorola, according to a list compiled by CNET. One Moto phone, the V195s for T-Mobile, has an SAR of 1.6 W/Kg, which is the maximum level allowed by the FCC (this model is not included on Motorola's SAR Web site). On the other hand, Moto's Razr V3x had the second lowest SAR (0.14 W/Kg) on CNET's list —though this model is not available in the U.S. Motorola's Web site gives the V3x as having a maximum SAR of 0.58 W/Kg.