Consumers will now have access to independent information with regard to radiation of a mobile phone.
For the first time, the Consumer Council has joined forces with counterpart consumer bodies abroad in a test conducted by ICRT (International Consumer Research and Testing).
Results of the test on the SAR (specific absorption rate) values of 25 mobile phones were released in CHOICE this month for the reference of consumers.
The SAR value is an indication of the amount of radiation that is absorbed into the human body when using the mobile phone.
The values were measured against the safety limit of 2.0 W/kg set by the ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection).
The typical SAR values among the 25 models varied from 0.11 to 0.82 W/kg, representing a difference of 6.5 times in radiation absorption. Nonetheless using these phones is considered at low risk of radiation absorption as their SAR values were all far under the ICNIRP safety limit.
The typical SAR value is the radiation exposure under typical condition assuming the phone is used at a location not too far or close to the base station, as is likely to be the case in most Hong Kong urban area.
The test also measured the maximum SAR values in the case of the phone users being far away from the base station or out in remote countryside. The maximum SAR values are slightly higher ranging from 0.19 to 0.93 W/kg.
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