Smartphone manufacturers will no longer have to provide hands-free kits with their devices in France: a new law allows them to get rid of this practically unique provision in the world. The rationale for this measure was to “limit exposure of the head to radio frequency emissions during communications”.
The national frequency agency (ANFR) has published a survey which shows that wearing headphones, whether wired or Bluetooth, can effectively reduce the level of exposure. The agency carried out no less than 920 measurements with six models, two wired kits and four wireless kits, widely used today.
Wired or Bluetooth?
The results of the survey prove that the specific absorption rate at the level of the head (so-called head SAR) is reduced by 75 to 95%, with an average of 90%. For the limb SAR, ie the arms, the reduction is 92% on average!
Each time, the measurements were taken based on the worst-case scenario, i.e. with very poor reception, which requires the smartphone to emit waves as much as possible. The ANFR carried out these readings with 4G smartphones, but the agency indicates that the emissions are comparable with 5G models.
The results are close from one technology (wired) to another (wireless). The first dissipates the electromagnetic field of the smartphone, the other emits its own Bluetooth emissions. To avoid exposure to the waves as much as possible, it is better to be in a place where the reception is the best: this makes it possible to divide the levels by 32,000!
But when the optimal conditions are not met, you can wear headphones, wired or Bluetooth, to reduce these levels.
