CNET Provides Radiation Statistics on Popular Mobile Phones
We stumbled across a promotion on CNET for a report that they published on mobile telephone radiation emissions. Some of our favorite phones, including the Nokia 8860 and the Ericsson T28 have among the highest radiation statistics.
This made us curious to find out what the radiation statistics meant. After all, why are the most feature-ladened, newer models apparently discharging more radiation than some of the old models we discarded because they were big and heavy?
The Cellular Telephone Industry Association through its World of Wireless Web Site, provides an explanation of the statistic used to measure radiation from mobile phones, the Specific Absorbtion Rate or SAR. You will note that SAR is measured in Watts per kilogram (W/kg). The SAR statistic for mobile phones is also carefully explained to be the partial body SAR.
The issue for us is whether the kilogram in SAR is a measure of the mass of the human body or the telephone. If it is a measure of the mass of the telephone, then it is perfectly understandable that the smallest telephones would have the highest SARs, irrespective of the phones' feature sets. If, on the other hand, the statistic refers to mass of human flesh, then it is easier to understand the relative exposure rates.