Is Bluetooth Headset a Health Concern?

Health Effects, Risks & Dangers of Bluetooth Radiation
Are Bluetooth Headsets Dangerous?

Imagining a world without wireless devices is increasingly becoming difficult. These devices are very convenient to use as they cut away the hassle of managing wires. Mobiles phones, Bluetooth headsets, FM radios –these all are examples of wireless devices. However, because wireless devices work on the basis of radiations; there has been a growing concern about how safe these devices are for us.

Bluetooth is an industry standard that is used for transferring data over small distances through radio waves. It has become almost an established fact that mobile phone radiations are dangerous for our health. Mobile phone radiations can cause cancer and tumors. Combined with ease of use; these concerns have sky-rocketed the use of devices like hands-free earphones and Bluetooth headset.
But many people still fear that the Bluetooth headsets can also cause cancer just like mobile phones. These people get anxious at the thought of having an radio antenna planted so near their brains. After all Bluetooth devices also work wirelessly just like mobile phones!

But the truth is that Bluetooth is as safe to you as your FM radio. Let me explain how.
On 31st May 2011, the World Health Organization confirmed that mobile phone use may represent a long-term health risk. Mobile phones are dangerous as they emit high power radiations –this is important because phones have to send signals to the base station which could be miles away. On contrary, the range of Bluetooth is less than 100 feet. So, the Bluetooth radiations carry comparatively negligible energy.

Bluetooth uses the microwave frequency spectrum in the range of 2.4 GHz to 2.4835 GHz while the FM radio uses 87.5 to 108.0 MHz. Do not worry about the big difference between the used frequencies. It is not the frequency that matters but the energy carried by the waves. Bluetooth waves are not expected to travel long –so they carry little energy.
Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) is the measure of how much radiation energy our body absorbs if exposed to a particular frequency. In United States, only those mobiles phones are allowed to be sold that have an SAR rate of 1.6 watt (of energy) per kilogram (weight of the user’s body).

According to Wikipedia, the SAR rate of LG Optimus 2X mobile phone is 0.545. Similarly:
Motorola Devour has a SAR rate of 0.45
Nokia 3310 has a SAR rate of 0.99
Motorola Stature i9 has a SAR rate of 1.44

The least harmful phone on the list is Samsung Acclaim with the SAR rate of 0.29
Now lets see how bad is Bluetooth headset in comparison. A study by William G. Scanlon of Queen’s University in Belfast found that a typical Ericsson Bluetooth radio module generates an SAR rate of just 0.001 !

Even our sun emits much more powerful radiation than Bluetooth. So far none of the studies have linked Bluetooth with health hazards.
It is better to use Bluetooth headset because not only it saves you from tangled wires of a hands-free but also it increases the average distance of mobile phone from your body. The real problem is mobile phone itself. The farther it is from your body –the better it would be. Bluetooth headsets allow you to keep phone away from your body.