The SAR Heat Is On

Handsets have been in the hot seat recently amidst concerns that they may be hazardous to users' health. But with new studies offering up conflicting findings almost daily, it's been hard for anyone to determine the level of danger to wireless-phone users from radiation.

In response to consumer concerns and a CTIA request, handset manufacturers recently agreed to begin labeling wireless phones in 2001 with the amount of radiation they emit. Ericsson, Motorola and Nokia all have said they are working on developing a standard for measuring specific absorption rates (SAR).

SAR measures the maximum radiation absorbed by a kilogram of human tissue from a cellular phone. It's the rate at which radiation is absorbed by the soft tissue of the head, typically the brain. Experts have found that the lower the SAR rating of a handset, the less radiation is absorbed, although there is no proven connection between SAR levels and the health of users.

When a standard is finalized, handset manufacturers plan to publish SAR value consistently for all their phones worldwide. But some question whether consumers or providers can trust handset manufacturers, who are facing increased scrutiny, to come clean with the real radiation risks.

SARData.com recently published research detailing the highest- and lowest-rated cellular phones according to its radiation-testing reports. Richard Tenney, managing director of DoMode.com, which provided the research data, said the data was provided by the FCC and supplemented by its own figures.

The FCC requires U.S. manufacturers to meet radiation safety standards and detail the SAR of all handsets but, according to Tenney, it has restricted the circulation and/or the model numbers that are tested. This makes it difficult, if not imposible, for consumers to get SAR-level information for specific handsets.

Ken Woo, director of corporate communications, said AT&T Wireless supports efforts to find more reliable research because there's still a lot to learn about SAR levels and cellular phones.

"All of our phones meet the guidelines set by the FCC, Federal Trade Commission and all the other government agencies involved," Woo said. "Basically, they say that today's mobile phones should not emit more than 0.6W of power, which is a very low level. Most scientists seem to think at that low level, there shouldn't be any issues."

But he expressed concern about third-party manufacturers trying to dupe worried consumers.

"We have seen a proliferation of devices that are being sold by third parties to minimize the RF output of the phones," Woo said. "Those devices are either useless or dangerous."