More radiation with poor reception? Poor network coverage, low battery power, an overloaded memory, but also the number of people making calls and surfing the Internet in the vicinity can have an impact on your cell phone reception. You should exercise caution here: Radiation exposure can be much higher when reception is poor than when it is good
Why more radiation with poor reception?
The SAR value is decisive for the radiation of a cell phone. The lower this value is, the less electromagnetic radiation the cell phone emits. There is a separate SAR list for the SAR value of cell phones. The SAR value must also be stated in the instructions for use of cell phones. Nowadays, manufacturers are already taking care to produce cell phones with the lowest possible SAR value – at least at first glance! If you read the operating instructions of a well-known smartphone manufacturer with the apple logo, for example, the manufacturer recommends putting the phone a few centimeters away from your body when making a call and using a hands-free system. Otherwise, the manufacturer would not comply with the SAR value and the device would not be allowed to be sold in Germany and Austria.
Even if your cell phone has a low SAR value, cell phone radiation depends on reception. The further away the cell phone is from the nearest mobile phone station, the higher the radiation emitted. Because the cell phone has to use more power to establish and maintain the connection, you are exposed to more radiation than if you have good reception. A car body, for example, further impairs the connection. The cell phone transmits at a higher power level. Parts of buildings can also reduce the cell phone connection. If you are exposed to such high-frequency electromagnetic fields over the long term, you may have to reckon with health problems.
How can you reduce cell phone radiation?
The Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) has a few recommendations that we would like to pass on to you here:
- Always keep enough distance from your cell phone! You can reduce cell phone radiation by not holding your cell phone directly to your ear when making a call.
- A headset can also minimize cell phone radiation to the head and brain. Depending on where you wear the cell phone on your body, other parts of the body can still be affected by radiation.
If reception is poor, you should keep your phone calls as short as possible or simply switch to text messages.
With these simple measures, you can reduce the possible effects of cell phone radiation. However, it is particularly important to drastically reduce children’s exposure to radiation. Because they are still growing, this exposure could potentially cause major problems. The skullcap of babies and children is also much thinner than that of adults – electromagnetic radiation can therefore penetrate their bodies even more easily. The BfS therefore recommends avoiding cell phone calls in the vicinity of children completely or limiting them as far as possible.
