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Member Comments
by danbrian on September 24, 2009 at 7:35 PM
I haven't gotten one yet although I assume they are safe. However, Sanjay Gupta says he still uses a wired ear piece because the data isn't conclusive.
by EnergyHealing on September 26, 2009 at 8:05 AM
I don't wear one. Why take a chance. I still use a wired ear piece as well. Do you know that two cell phones pointed at at each other, with an egg in the middle will eventually cook the egg (in less time then you would think). A legitimate experiment was conducted that actually proved it. Why would I want to put a smaller version of the cell phone (bluetooth device) next to my head? It still emits radiation.
by evan_ on September 26, 2009 at 12:00 PM
That's a load of crap. Try it yourself.
by plomplom on September 27, 2009 at 3:35 AM
That's very stupid. Two phones calling to each other don't even transmit signal to each other directly, they each transmit to the mobile network antenna.
by Paulwmcd on September 26, 2009 at 12:26 PM
Joe, when you ask "is it safe to wear something that emits radiation so close to your brain" you somewhat load the question. Radiation (at least Ionizing Radiation) is damaging to cells because the energy and frequency can damage DNA, leading in some cases to cancer. There is little evidence that energy transmitted in the micro radio frequency spectrum (2.4 GHz to 2.4835 GHz range) has a biological effect.
There have been studies that show that driving while using a hands free device is no better than talking on the phone while driving, so I'd be more concerned about safety here than cooking my brain or causing brain cancer. BTW, EnergyHealing even if the egg experiment were not fake, just don't strap 4 headseats to yourself and you should be fine....
by Sparks2007 on September 28, 2009 at 12:42 PM
It Depends. If you have a blue tooth because you ate a blue piece of candy, it will generally wear off in a couple hours. However, if you get a bluetooth from lack of brushing your teeth, it is bad for you.
HAHAHAHA---Someone had to poke fun.
by lmlucarini on September 30, 2009 at 4:18 AM
that was really lame
by r6ridr on September 30, 2009 at 5:47 AM
OK, we're falling into some of the same muzzy logic that usually mars this discussion. Let's try to get on the same page before discussing further.
First, get your terms right. The author of the original article made one such basic mistake when referring to the bluetooth transmissions as "low frequency" when he meant "Low intensity" or "low amplitude".
First, define your terms correctly:
When analyzing the impact of ANY transmitting device (The SUN, Bluetooth headset, your cell, the fluorescent light above your desk), you need to characterize the device's emissions in 3 ways:
1. Frequency - this is just like the tuner in your radio - this higher the number, the higher you are on the tuning dial. Bluetooth radios transmit in the 2.4GHz frequency. That's higher frequency than AM radio, and higher than FM radio, but lower than the x-ray machine at your dentist's office. Your cellphone transmits, if it's GSM, somewhere around 1800MHz (which would be 1.8GHz for those doing the math).
2. Intensity or Amplitude: This is "how loud" or "how strongly" the device transmits. Your bluetooth headset probably transmits at only a few milliwats (that's a few thousandths of a watt) of transmit power. It only has to reach from your head to your hand or your bag, so it can be a really low power radio. Compare that to your cellphone, which has to transmit to a tower up to 30 miles away. Your cell therefore probably transmits at 0.6-1.0 Watts of radio power. That means your cellphone is transmitting at several hundred times the transmit power of your BT headset.
by r6ridr on September 30, 2009 at 5:48 AM
3. Lastly, you want to ask yourself: what type of radiation is this? We all freak out about "radiation", but that's a misnomer. Anything that radiates in the electromagnetic spectrum is emitting "radiation" - that's the technical term for energy transmitted away from its point of origin - it's "radiating" outwards, therefore "radiation". Freaking out about "radiation" due to the term is like freaking out about "chemicals" - your whole body is made of chemicals: you can't avoid them unless you become a ghost. What you need to be concerned with are HARMFUL chemicals, and HARMFUL radiation - stuff that causes damage.
Radiation comes in several flavors: there is ionizing radiation, electromagnetic radiation, and particle radiation. Each of them have differing effects on different tissues. The radiation that you SHOULD be concerned with exposure to are Ionizing radiation and particle radiation: these are both associated with nuclear processes like atomic decay. Ionizing and particle radiation are also associated with with tissue damage and cellular and DNA damage at relatively low doses.
Fortunately, neither your cellphone nor your BT headset emit those types of radiation.
by r6ridr on September 30, 2009 at 5:49 AM
Instead, your BT headset emits Electromagnetic Radiation. This is the same type of radiation that you receive when you go outside and look up at the sun, or read under a comfortable reading lamp. At low doses, electromagnetic radiation simply makes things a little warmer.
It's important to note that the 2.4GHz frequency is pretty readily absorbed by water. Your brains contain a LOT of water, as does most of your body.
So the question is: does the BT headset that you have next to your brains emit enough radio energy in the 2.4GHz radio band to noticeably warm your brains enough to cook them, or to cause tissue damage? This is a matter of degree of exposure when it comes to electromagnetic radiation: just like you can cook your skin and get a sunburn if you're out in the sun's visible and near-visible light for too long (UVA and UVB exposure, in this case), you COULD cook your brains if you had a high-powered (high intensity) 2.4GHz radio transmitting next to your head for a long time.
Based on simple calorimeter studies, however, it's pretty easy to demonstrate that the BT radio in your headset doesn't transmit enough power to noticeably heat your body tissues, never mind heating your brains any reasonable depth into your head. Your skin, blood and skull already do a good job of absorbing and deflecting much of that 2.4GHz milliwatt radio spectrum away from your brains.
by r6ridr on September 30, 2009 at 5:49 AM
It's *possible* that long-term (decades) exposure to low-powered, high-frequency 2.4GHz radio might have more subtle effects. THIS is where the current research is focused. Because the time baseline for such a study is long, the research necessarily takes many years.
If you're interested in minimizing your exposure, then it's a case of balancing your relative risks: would you rather clap a milliwat 2.4GHz radio to your head for 6 hours of talk-time a day (your BT headset), or would you like to take a radio that's several hundred times stronger, and transmitting in nearly the same spectrum (1800MHz - 1.8GHz) and clap *that* to your head for the same time?
Until the jury comes back with conclusive studies on a long baseine, I'm personally going to choose my risks, and choose the lower exposure risks: I'll drive more safely with a BT headset on, and I'll reduce my near-field EM radio exposure by several hundred times by wearing a BT headset instead of clapping the cellphone to my head. I'll also make sure I buy a BT headset that goes to "sleep" when it's not actually on a call to further reduce my exposure.
NOW, outfitted with the right terms, please argue on.
:)
And again, if you're really freaked, get your tinfoil beanie on, and start packing a LOT of quarters: there's a payphone at the corner gas station you can use instead.
by jfoxx on September 30, 2009 at 7:10 PM
I just want to say that it's not a "bluetooth"!!! I hate it when people call it a bluetooth. Bluetooth is the communication protocol. It's a bluetooth headset. That's like saying "Click here with your USB".