Seven months from now, all mobile phone handsets sold in India, including the imported ones, will have to meet stringent electromagnetic emission limits. The yet to be notified regulations will make mobile handsets relatively less harmful to use compared with the ones sold prior to September 1. The decision to reduce the specific absorption rate (SAR) — the amount of radio frequency energy absorbed by the body when using a phone — is a prudent one. India has taken a leaf out of the United States Federal Communication Commission (FCC) by adopting a stricter SAR limit of 1.6 watts per kilogram averaged over a volume of 1 gram of tissue for the head. The SAR value currently in effect is 2 watts per kilogram averaged over a volume of 10 gram of tissue. Another significant aspect is the requirement to compulsorily mention the SAR value on every handset so that consumers are aware of it. Until now, companies have been tucking this information in the handset manuals or their websites. But the worse culprits are the cheap phones sourced from a few countries that have much higher emission levels than the currently permitted SAR limit. It is quite unlikely that even the mandatory requirement of having the SAR value embossed on every unit will prevent such gadgets from being sold.......Read More

Source: The Hindu