[rpfeffer]

While I know there is no factual basis for the link between cell phones and brain cancer, is it safer to use a BT headset and have it on most of the time, or just to hold your phone to your head some of the time?

I haven't been able to find any articles in regards to how safe the headsets are compared to regular cell phone use, so I figured I would ask here. Any help or links to information on this would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

[ndub33]

Since the overall documented research is inconclusive, there isn't much concrete to suggest that headset use is safer than holding the device to your ear, at least to my knowledge. If anyone else has seen something significant, chime in.

Back in the days of the 3 watt brick phones, this probably would have had a little more traction. More wattage= more protential exposure to radiation. Modern handsets run at .6 watts, significantly less "juice".

[AlbertoM]

Originally Posted by ndub33

Since the overall documented research is inconclusive, there isn't much concrete to suggest that headset use is safer than holding the device to your ear, at least to my knowledge. If anyone else has seen something significant, chime in.

Back in the days of the 3 watt brick phones, this probably would have had a little more traction. More wattage= more protential exposure to radiation. Modern handsets run at .6 watts, significantly less "juice".

Not only that, but it dials power back if it does not need full power....

[toledozooed]

Well if you look at a cellular or wireless phone, they run on high powered frequencies. Bluetooth is actually just an FM signal. If it were true that holding a cell phone to your ear was dangerous, Bluetooth would actually be safer because the phone is away from your head and transmitting an FM signal instead.

[Jase88]

Cancer is not the only risk to close-proximity RF exposure. RF heats up tissues, which can have negative bio-chemical effects on the body and brain. Remember that the brain not only communicates using electrical impulses, but chemically as well. Panic attacks, headaches, moodiness, depression and other issues have been attributed to RF exposure.

Studies have also shown that the effects of RF on the body vary considerably from person to person. Some folks will never experience any negative effects from RF, while others are hypersensitive.

Bluetooth devices are perhaps the safest way to use a cellular phone. The transmitter operates at a small fraction of the power of a typical phone; thus signifcantly reducing your RF exposure.

If you must use the phone only, I recommend a CDMA-based technology. CDMA spreads the RF over a wide channel, which makes it much safer for the user. And these devices typically transmit at an average lower power.

Narrowband technologies, such as GSM, must use more power to overcome common issues such as interference and multipath. And the very nature of narrowband contributes to increased tissue heating over wideband technologies

Avoid wired headsets. Since the headset is plugged into the same PCB as the transmitter, RF runs along the headset wire directly into your ear, thus increasing your exposure.

[MoralityWoman]

lol dude..this is funny.. ok not really
but umm...theres a link between cancer and cell phones and radiation its a type of tumor that grows in your brain or in other areas of the head. and i know this because this lady in my neighborhood whom is something like a neighbor bc she live like diagnal from me...died from this a couple of years back. i recently purchased a bluetooth headset but i only use it when im driving or if i know that i am going to be on a prolonged conversation and im busy with both hands and cant hold my phone. i mean that is partial purpose of the bluetooth headset right? but as far as i know, i havent found any research findings or happenings of people dying or getting any sort of cancer from using a bluetooth headset. i dont think i would suggest leaving it in your ear the whole day for like days at a time...i mean speakerphone is also an option.

[wibbly]

As I recall max output power from a Bluetooth device is 1000x lower than a cell phone's max GSM output. So if you worry, I wouldn't worry about Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi for that matter.

[wibbly]

Originally Posted by Jase88

Avoid wired headsets. Since the headset is plugged into the same PCB as the transmitter, RF runs along the headset wire directly into your ear, thus increasing your exposure.

Is that proven, or an urban legend? If the RF circuitry on on the PCB was that 'leaky' I'd expect all sorts of undesirable side effects to adjacent (non RF) circuitry.

[DallasFlier]

Originally Posted by wibbly

Is that proven, or an urban legend? If the RF circuitry on on the PCB was that 'leaky' I'd expect all sorts of undesirable side effects to adjacent (non RF) circuitry.

Definitely an urban legend. The PCB design is done to minimize any such potential, and likely filters on the audio output path also. Nothing to that at all.

[Jase88]

Originally Posted by wibbly

Is that proven, or an urban legend? If the RF circuitry on on the PCB was that 'leaky' I'd expect all sorts of undesirable side effects to adjacent (non RF) circuitry.

I can reproduce the effect in my lab--its real.

GSM devices already cause undesirable interference with close-proximity electronic devices...ever hold one next to a poorly shielded TV when its actively transmitting?

[Jase88]

Originally Posted by DallasFlier

Definitely an urban legend. The PCB design is done to minimize any such potential, and likely filters on the audio output path also. Nothing to that at all.

RF travels quite well along wires--trust me on that one. You can implement design attributes that minimize negative performance effects (many manufacturers do little to prevent this--Motorola comes to mind!). But at such close distances, its impossible to stop RF from conducting along headset wires...

[adamlau]

I wonder if our devices are susceptible to BlueSnarf attacks...

[wibbly]

I think one reason why RIM were so slow at offering a Bluetooth implementation, was that they wanted to make sure it would not compromise the security of a BB. To do so would be a very Bad Thing as the whole security thing is one of RIM's main selling points.

Bluesnarfing was a result of a poor (bug ridden) Bluetooth implementation in some devices. As far as I know it's NOT anything fundamental in the Bluetooth spec, so as long as a developer actually implements and tests it correctly, it's not a real problem. As I recall other vulnerabilities are associated with leaving default Bluetooth PINs active - that kind of thing - so really the same as any other system with very weak passwords left in place

[wibbly]

Originally Posted by Jase88

RF travels quite well along wires--trust me on that one. You can implement design attributes that minimize negative performance effects (many manufacturers do little to prevent this--Motorola comes to mind!). But at such close distances, its impossible to stop RF from conducting along headset wires...

Sure, but I've yet to see any tests done (by anyone not selling some kind of "protection" product!), which suggests you're not much better using a wired earpiece than holding the phone itself to your ear, albeit with the phone's antenna directing the radio energy away from you.

And even with relatively very low power levels involved in Bluetooth (up to 1000x less than GSM), I wonder how

- Bluetooth power levels compare with a wired headset RF radiation
- Bluetooth power levels compare with a 800W microwave cooker alowable "leakage"
- etc

It's all a question of if this risk is subjectively higher than all the other sources of "bad stuff" we're subjected to day by day.