Mobile Phones - Reducing Your Exposure

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Ideally of course, you should simply find an alternative to needing to use your phone, and not carry it around with you when you don't need it. However, if you feel you cannot possibly live without it and must have it with you, the following guidelines should provide a relatively simple way of taking solid steps to reducing your exposure. If you would like more information on this topic, please read our publication, Mobile Phone Masts and wireless computing, which contains far more information on this subject. We also extensively cover this area in our article library.

September 2009 - Update from Cindy Sage

Cindy Sage has recently written an article entitled "Plain Talk About Cell Phone Safety", giving a number of useful tips to reduce phone exposure with background information supporting why you might want to do so.

Reducing Exposure - using your existing phone

• Use your phone only when necessary, and keep the call short.
• Where possible, try to only use your phone in areas with the best signal, as this can reduce the emissions by up to 500 times.
• Indoors, use your phone near the window and make sure it is between your body and the window.
• Hold the phone away from your body immediately after dialling, as the phone uses maximum power until the call is connected.
• Where possible, do not hold the phone next to your eyes, breasts, testicles, kidneys, liver or abdomen if pregnant - ideally, keep the phone away from your body (such as in a bag) when it is not in use.
• If you have to keep it next to your body, a location such as rear trouser pocket will help keep it away from major organs, and try to make sure the antenna is on the outer side.
• Using a mobile phone in a car or train traps the fields inside the metal frame of the vehicle, and should be avoided except in an emergency.
• If you are not imminently expecting a phone call, you can greatly reduce your exposure by having the phone switched off when you carry it around instead of just on standby, as your phone contacts the nearest mast every time you move into a different masts coverage, and also checks regularly even when you are stationary - This contact is always made at the phone's full power.

Buying a new phone and / or its associated protective equipment.

• Buy a phone with a long 'talk time', this normally means a more efficient phone.
• Phones with external antennas are more likely to focus the radiation further away from your head, and are favourable to internal antenna models.
• Buy a phone with a low SAR, but don't rely on that to guarantee your safety. SARs vary by a factor up to about 5. Some high SAR phones are actually very efficient and normally work at low power, some low SAR phones are inefficient and normally have to work at high power. The smaller phones often have higher SARs and therefore are likely to produce higher exposure levels.
• Your exposure can be greatly reduced by using an air-tube hands-free kit.
• Do not rely on unscientific 'gizmos' to give you the protection you need. If you wish to use one, use your common sense as well.