The following information uses the sun as an illustration to present a simplified explanation about how SAR safety standards for cell phones were created.

You are planning go to the beach on a hot, humid, sunny day and want to know beforehand if it is safe to do so. You contact the government public safety health agency in your area for advice and they tell you there is insufficient scientific basis for concluding exposure to the sun is safe or that it poses a risk to millions of people, and although the current safety standards do not suggest there is a risk to your health, further study is required and there are no recommendations available for the amount of time you can spend in the hot sun.

You ask for additional information about the current safety standards and are provided with a web site link (shown below) after being told the standards are theoretical and were initially developed in a study conducted by a United States Military Research Laboratory in 1986, and last modified on June 14, 1997. You visit the web site, review all 11 chapters of technical information, and discover in Chapter 10 that the current safety standards were derived by estimating safe thermal levels based upon the estimated maximum rectal temperature of a healthy adult male exposed to a sunny, hot, humid environment for 61 minutes, and then calculating estimated safe temperature thresholds for various body organs.

This is precisely how the SAR safety standards used and recommended by the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and worldwide regulatory agencies for determining safe levels of cell phone radiation and the radiation emitted by other products were created.

The SAR thermal safety standards accepted by the FCC, FDA and regulatory agencies worldwide are based upon a study prepared by the United States Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in 1986. As you review the following, it should be understood that none of the health effects which have been attributed to cell phone radiation are thermally induced.

Their estimated "safe thermal level" references were derived by reviewing various studies that measured the rectal temperature of a healthy 28 year old male exposed to a sunny, hot, humid environment for 61 minutes, and applied an "estimated maximum rectal temperature threshold" of 39.2^o C. (102.5^o F.) as the basis for the entire study. The study included disclaimers stating the results would be different for a person of a different size, age or general health condition, and this has since been confirmed, particularly for children. It should also be noted the standards cannot be applied to frequencies below 100 MHz., and reports concerning the health effects of frequencies beginning as low as 5 Hz. have been reported in the press regularly since 2000.

This "estimated maximum temperature threshold" was then used to calculate the "estimated safe absorption rates" for individual body organs at a specific frequency lower than what is used by cellular phones, 70 MHz. Here too, the study includes a disclaimer, stating "this assumption would be expected to be valid for RFR at frequencies up to the postresonance region (perhaps up to about 1 GHz. for the average man), but might not be valid at higher frequencies."

The frequency used by older cellular and cordless phones was in the 900 MHz. band. Almost every cellular phone and many cordless phones sold since 2001 operate at frequencies far above 1 GHz., clearly indicating the SAR standard should not be used as the criteria for determining the safety of these products

During February, 2000, the FDA said "There is currently insufficient scientific basis for concluding either that wireless communication technologies are safe or that they pose a risk to millions of users." But a report published by Microwave News in February, 2003 indicates otherwise. Click here for additional information about SAR and cellular phones.

The chart shown below was developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and further demonstrates the deficiencies of SAR standards.

AegisGuard™ Radiation Shields were tested at actual emitted radiation levels up to 2.6 GHz. using globally accepted ASTM (American Society of Testing and Materials) procedures, or with in-house developed procedures for frequencies up to 45 GHz. (See Tests for additional information).

See SAR & Cell Phones and the Cell Phone Radiation Controversy for additional information.
 

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