In its latest iPhone model, Apple has done away with the earphone jack, ushering in an era of wireless headphones. Since the tech giant’s move last week, consumers worried if wireless earbuds – or the AirPod – could tamper with their health.
The AirPod is water-resistant and wireless, saving you the hassle of dealing with tangled up cords. It connects to your phone through Bluetooth technology, which relies on radio transmissions.
The response from experts when it comes to safety runs the gamut, though: Some experts say Bluetooth technology is pretty similar to what’s emitted from cellphones and WiFi so it’s “not a new form of exposure,” but others warn that we’re “playing with fire.”
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Here’s what you need to know about wireless earbuds and your health:
With the AirPod, users plug wireless headphones or earpieces into their ears. The question is, is it safe to put these devices emitting radiation in our heads for extended periods of time?
Dr. Joel Moskowitz, a professor at the University of California Berkeley, told the Daily Mail that he’s not sure.
“You are putting a microwave-emitting device next to your brain,” he told the U.K. outlet.
“The antenna on the AirPod is the piece that protrudes down from the left AirPod; the microwaves will penetrate the ear and the skull,” he explained to Global News.
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In a blog post, Moskowitz said that while the wireless industry promises that devices like Bluetooth are safe, “we may not be certain of the long-term risks of using Bluetooth devices.”
“Why would anyone insert microwave-emitting devices in their ears near their brain when there are safer ways to use a cellphone?” he asked.
Moskowitz may sound alarming, but other experts are downplaying the potential health effects.
“It’s transmitting at quite a low power level,” Dr. Kenneth Foster, a University of Pennsylvania professor, told the L.A. Times.
Foster said there’s an incentive for tech companies to keep transmission low: it doesn’t eat up battery life, for starters.
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In 2011, the World Health Organization concluded that cellphones are “possibly carcinogenic.” That lumped cellphones in the same category as certain dry-cleaning chemicals and pesticides, for example.
The higher-risk groups include “probable” and “known” carcinogens to humans.
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Radio frequency radiation includes WiFi, cellphones and Bluetooth technology.
These are all forms of non-ionizing radiation, though. They’re in a completely different group from ionizing radiation – that category is “carcinogenic to humans” and includes X-rays, UV tanning beds, or exposure to certain chemicals, for example.
“There’s concern because there’s a lot of uncertainty. Even in the research community, a lot of people put weight on research and are waiting for the evidence to be more solid,” Rob Nuttall, associate director of health policy at the Canadian Cancer Society, said.
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But for comparison’s sake, a cellphone emits more radiofrequency energy than wireless earbuds would, he said.
Even then, studies on cellphone usage directly against the head and for long periods of time are “not conclusive or consistent.”
In the meantime, if consumers are worried, Nuttall suggested sticking to the port that would connect traditional headphones instead of using wireless ones.
That’s the route Moskowitz is taking for now.
“I advise friends and family members against using Bluetooth earbuds. If someone must use them, they should keep this use to a minimum. Since the rapidly developing child’s brain absorbs more microwave radiation, children and adolescents are at greater risk of harm,” he told Global News.
carmen.chai@globalnews.ca
Follow @Carmen_Chai
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