What's My Phone's SAR?

According to a Rocky Mountain News article (www.rockymountainnews.com), Qwest Communications recalled 11,000 wireless phones because of excessive radiation emissions (www.qwest.com).

One Web site, www.domode.com, rates individual wireless phones according to which ones have the highest and lowest radiation standard absorption rates (SAR).

Qwest Wireless

Total Hold Time: 9 minutes

Transfer/IVR Layers: 2

CSR: Thank you for calling Qwest Wireless. This is (name).

WR: I recently saw an article about Qwest recalling a bunch of phones that were emitting unsafe levels of radiation. How can I be sure that my phone is safe?

CSR: What kind of phone do you have?

WR: Nokia 5170i.

CSR: That's not one. The only one that they recalled was the 3035. They contacted everybody with the phones, and they've replaced those.

WR: If those phones were faulty, maybe there's a possibility that mine is too, even though it's not the same model.

CSR: There's no known issue with any other phone.

WR: Is there anywhere that I can get the radiation levels tested on my phone?

CSR: You can take it to a Qwest retailer and see if they can do anything for you.

WR: Do you have any information about the cancer risks involved in using the phone and how to prevent them?

CSR: No, I don't have that information. From what I was told, there's no health risk involved with cell phones. Let me see if we have any information.

Put WR on hold for 30 seconds.

CSR: I was informed that we have no information about that. You would have to do your own research. You can go to different Web sites, I guess. But we don't have information like that that we send out.

Powertel

Total Hold Time: 20 seconds

Transfer/IVR Layers: 1

CSR: Thank you for calling Powertel. How may I help you?

WR: I have an Ericsson T28 phone, and I recently read on the Web that this phone puts out more radiation than most cell phones. How can I protect myself when I'm using the phone?

CSR: You could get a hands-free kit for the phone, so that it's not actually to your ear.

WR: Is there any kind of information that Powertel puts out about how far the phone should be from you or anything like that?

CSR: Not that I'm aware of, but let me check on that.

CSR puts WR on hold for two minutes.

CSR: I just talked to my supervisor, and he said that we don't put any information out about it because of the fact that we don't manufacture the phones; they're just basically supplied to us for the service. So you may want to call Ericsson's customer service. They would probably have more information about that.

Cincinnati Bell Wireless

Total Hold Time: 3 minutes

Transfer/IVR Layers: 1

CSR: You're calling Cincinnati Bell Wireless. How may I assist you?

WR: My mom uses your Nokia 6160 phone. I'm wondering what's the standard absorption rate on that phone?

CSR: You should probably give Nokia a call about that question. I honestly have no idea. I'll give you the number for Nokia.

WR: Do you have any information at all about the phones?

CSR: I have some information for programming different features, but I don't have anything for technical (information).

WR: I'm just wondering how safe the phone is to use and if you have some phones that are safer than others.

CSR: If you're concerned about safety, what most people will do is use a headset. That's an option for you.

WR: Does Cincinnati Bell put out anything about phone safety in terms of preventing cancer?

CSR: Can I put you on hold for a moment? I can't remember seeing anything on the Web.

CSR puts WR on hold for two minutes.

CSR: No, we do not have anything available. I would recommend giving Nokia a call. They would have specifics on the phone.