Fitness trackers have been popular for a while now, but as these devices get smarter, and more connected, should we be worried about the amount of radiation they are producing?
There have been concerns over the amount of EMF radiation coming from the Apple Watch, and similar devices, and what we can do to protect ourselves. I wanted to look into this and see what I can find out about this danger.
First let’s talk about what we know, and what we can assume, and then we’ll take a look at just how much radiation these devices are producing.
If you want to skip straight to the section on how to protect yourself from Apple watch radiation, just click here.
Does The Apple Watch Emit EMF Radiation?
Absolutely. The Apple watch is one of the most connected devices you can put on your wrist, as it connects via Bluetooth, WiFi, and cellular. One of the major dangers with wearable tech like the Apple watch is that it is constantly in direct contact with your skin.
There are a few ways in which an Apple watch emits EMF radiation, magnetic field and radio frequency.
Magnetic field radiation, which i’ve talked about in other articles, is emitted from most electronics. For example, if you own an EMF meter and were to measure the magnetic radiation from your laptop or TV you’d notice it’s fairly high. Your apple watch will certainly not emit that high of radiation, but the proximity of that radiation is also much closer.
Your Apple watch will also emit radio frequency radiation. This is the same type of radiation that makes cell-phones and WiFi routers a concern. Essentially radio frequency radiation is emitted whenever devices communicate wirelessly, whether that is via Bluetooth, cellular signals, or anything else.
Since an Apple watch is connected to your phone via Bluetooth it already emits a fair amount of EMF radiation. With the introduction of the Apple watch series 5 in September of 2019, Apple watches now also can be separately connected to a cellular connection just like your cell-phone.
Although this improves connectivity for the devices and can offer some emergency services, it also means that the device emits far more EMF radiation. We’ll talk about just how much radiation down below, including a full chart listing the radiation levels of every Apple watch.
As we know from other posts, proximity to the source of EMF radiation is extremely crucial. The inverse-square law of physics tells us that as we double our distance from a radiation source, we quarter our exposure. When we put something directly against our body, like a cell phone or an Apple watch, we absorb the absolute maximum amount of radiation.
Check out the video below to see the Apple watch emitting radiation in action:
As you likely know from the other posts on this website, EMF radiation has been known to cause symptoms such as:
- Fatigue
- Headaches
- Mood Swings
- Heart Arrhythmia
- Ashma
- Fertility Issues
- Digestive Issues
- Memory Problems
- Sleep Issues
Check out my full post on symptoms of EMF radiation. Or if you want to know everything there is to know about EMF radiation, check out “The Non-Tinfoil Guide To EMFs” By Nicolaus Pineault, my favorite book on the subject.
Although devices like the Apple watch are extremely convenient and provide connectivity like nothing we’ve seen before, the risks may simply not be worth the reward. We know the impact that significant exposure to EMF radiation has on the body, and in the months and years to come, we will see how this is accelerated by an increase in wearable tech, introduction of 5G, and the multitude of other EMF radiation exposures.
Can The Apple Watch Increase Odds Of Cancer?
The Apple watch is too new of a device to make any direct links between things like increased cancer risks and wearable tech. However, what we do have is what radiation from similar devices and similar sources of EMF radiation can do to the body, and make inferences about the dangers.
First of all, EMF radiation has consistently shown that it affects and causes mutations, of human DNA. This is believed to be one of the likely reasons we see increases in significant health issues such as cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and more.
DNA is the genetic material that makes us who we are and defines how our bodies operate. Mutations in DNA are believed to be an initial step in the creation of cancer cells in the body.
Studies and cumulate research collections have concluded that EMF radiation from devices like wearable tech and cellphones shows a direct correlation to an increased risk of developing brain tumors (glioma) and other cancers.
Another review of 16 studies done over a period of time concluded that risk of developing a brain tumor on the same side of the head as our typical cell phone use was increased nearly 2.5 times.
Yet another study conducted in Israel determined that cell phone users who were using their phone more than 20 hours a month had nearly double the chance of developing cancers in the salivary gland.
A columnist named Nick Bilton published an article in early 2015 stating that consistent exposure to low-level radiation from devices like the Apple watch and other wearable tech may increase chances of cancerous tumors, blood issues, and more.
Apple Watch EMF Protection
The best thing you could do would be to not wear it, but as that may not be the easiest option for many, let’s talk about some other things you can do.
1. Use Airplane Mode
One of the absolute best things you can do to protect yourself from the EMF radiation emitted from your Apple watch is to put it in airplane mode whenever it’s reasonable to do so.
If you take a few seconds and watch the video I embedded above, you’ll notice that when the Apple watch is put into Airplane mode, the RF emissions drop to virtually zero. You are still able to utilize much of the functionality of the watch without any of the radiation issues.
Not, obviously when it’s in this mode, there are going to be features that are disabled, but since it only takes a few taps of your fingers to swap between modes, its probably worth doing so whenever you can.
With your watch in Airplane mode, you can still:
- Track workouts
- Look through photos
- Check your heart rate
- Etc.
To put your Apple watch in Airplane mode:
- Press the digital crown button on the right hand side of the watch face.
- Tap the Settings icon.
- Tap Airplane Mode
- Tap the Airplane Mode toggle to turn it on or off.
Doing this will dramatically lower your exposure to Apple Watch radiation.
2. Don’t Wear Your Apple Watch At Night
Next, if you can live without the sleep tracking (and it’s worth it to live without it) take your apple watch off at night. This alone will reduce your overall exposure to the device by 33% (just because you’re wearing it 1/3 less of the time!)
At night, take it off, and turn it off. Don’t take the apple watch off and leave it on next to your head, because as you can see from the SAR ratings below, you’ll still be exposed to radiation.
Best EMF Blockers and Protection For Apple Watch
Alright, now lets take a few minutes and talk about products designed to protect us from Apple watch radiation. To start with, you can’t simply block the radiation from an Apple watch and still be wearing it.
If you think about a cell-phone, you can either block the radiation from reaching your head, which is what cell-phone protection cases do. You can also placed your cell-phone in a faraday bag when you’re not using it which will block the radiation.
However, when you’re wearing an apple watch, you need both sides of the watch for it to operate. The front has the face which you need to be able to see, and the back has all of the heart rate sensors.
So, unlike most EMF protection products, we can’t simply block the radiation from the watch.
Instead, we have to rely on products that claim to “neutralize” or “harmonize” the radiation from the device.
Now, the problem with these types of products is that I can’t measure a reduction and therefore can’t say for certain that they work. So, I’m going to mention a few here, but you’ll have to do your own research and make your own judgement call as to whether they do in fact reduce the radiation from your Apple watch.
1. EMF Harmony EMF Protection Apple Watchband
This is without a doubt the most popular apple watch EMF protection device on the market. It’s actually a full Apple watchband that comes in different sizes and two colors that claims to support your health and protect you from RF radiation.
According the EMF Harmony, the company who designed and sells the product, the watchband offers two levels of protection:
- Harmonizes the EMF’s from your Apple Watch to minimize their damaging effects on your health
- Supports your body against other EMF’s you come into contact with as you move through the world
They say that is able to do this through a proprietary process of storing energetic information in the product that is able to emit vibration frequencies into the environment. These frequencies harmonize the negative effects of the radiation emitted from your Apple watch.
What I love about EMF Harmony as a company, is that actually have a whole page of research that you can look at showing how and why their products work.
The watchband will fit any series of Apple watch. If you want to read more about how the band works to protect you, check out the product here.
The other thing I suggest just about everyone does is to consider getting an EMF meter.
No matter where you currently are in your journey to understand the dangers of EMF radiation, this will be your best tool, and I promise you’ll end up using it all the time.
This is also important when you’re looking to make changes because you can actually determine if they’re working. I personally have and love the new TriField TF2 (read my review) as it’s simple to use, lasts forever, is extremely accurate, and measures all three types of EMF radiation.
Does Apple Publish Information About EMF Radiation From The Apple Watch?
Yes, they do, for any cellular connected devices, like cell phones, manufacturers are required to publish Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) for each device.
First let’s talk a little bit about what this rating means, and how reliable it is, and then we’ll look at the numbers for the Apple Watch.
What Is Specific Absorption Rate (SAR)?
In late 1996, the FCC published rules about the amount of EMF exposure that was safe and legal for cell phone and other connected device manufacturers. These guidelines outlined and defined what the specific absorption rate (SAR) would measure, and how this measurement would be done.
They concluded that the maximum SAR for any device should be 1.6 w/kg of body weight for any device. They came to this conclusion primarily based on the thermal aspect of EMF radiation.
However, they failed to factor in the emerging body of research and knowledge over the other damaging effects of EMF radiation, such as the symptoms we talked about above, as well as increased risk of cancer and other significant diseases.
The SAR level that the FCC outlined is defined based on 30 minutes of use, with a cell phone (or other devices) directly against the head. In this manner, the SAR determines the maximum exposure. Since both distance, and manner of use for the phone dramatically influence the amount of radiation released, these numbers can be all over the place.
Are SAR Levels A Good Indicator Of How Dangerous An Apple Watch Is?
For the most part, probably not, and here are a few reasons why. SAR measurements attempt to find the maximum EMF radiation exposure amount from the device, but this can vary quite a bit depending on what the device is doing.
For example, if your Apple watch or other smart device is connected to multiple Bluetooth devices, as well as connected via cellular, and possible WiFi as well, the resulting radiation will be extremely high. If the device is connected to none or less of these, the radiation will be lower.
The initial testing was based on cell phones but is still applicable to devices like this. The FCC writes on their website in regards to SAR reliability:
“cell phones constantly vary their power to operate at the minimum power necessary for communications; operation at maximum power occurs infrequently. Consequently, cell phones cannot be reliably compared for their overall exposure characteristics on the basis of a single SAR value.”
A few other reasons that SAR levels can be unreliable:
- Children’s brains are much softer and have been shown to absorb higher amounts of radiation. and SAR levels are based on an adult brain.
- SAR levels only give us information about how much radiation they emit when in use against the body, but do not tell us about how much radiation they emit when not in use. For example, cell phones and computers can have a significant impact on male fertility due to constant EMF exposure.
- The dummies used in SAR testing contain only liquids, meant to replicate the human body. However, many people have metal fillings, are wearing earrings, wear glasses, etc. All of these can impact how the radiation is absorbed and amplified.
Ok, now let’s take a look at what Apple says about the Apple Watch SAR levels.
Apple Watch Specific Absorption Rate Levels
I put together the first completely comprehensive list of the SAR levels of every Apple watch from the information Apple offers on their website.
First though, quickly read through the disclaimer that Apple places on their website:
Apple Watch has been tested and meets applicable limits for radio frequency (RF) exposure.
Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) refers to the rate at which the body absorbs RF energy. SAR limits depend on whether Apple Watch is used against the head or on the wrist. In some countries, the SAR limit is 1.6 watts per kilogram averaged over 1 gram of tissue for use against the head and 4.0 watts per kilogram averaged over 10 grams of tissue for use on the wrist. In other countries, the SAR limit is 2.0 watts per kilogram averaged over 10 grams of tissue for use against the head and 4.0 watts per kilogram averaged over 10 grams of tissue for use on the wrist.
During testing, Apple Watch radios are set to their highest transmission levels and placed in positions that simulate use against the head, with 10mm separation, and on the wrist, with no separation. When placing Apple Watch near your face, keep at least 10mm of separation to ensure exposure levels remain at or below the as-tested levels.
The highest SAR values are as follows:
So in the United States, the SAR limit is 1.6 watts per kilogram in relation to the head, and 4.0 W/kg when measured on the wrist. The important thing to glean from that disclaimer is that when measured, Apple watches are 10mm away from the head and in contact with the wrist when measured.
Ok, now let’s look at those SAR levels, I’ll order these from newest to oldest
Warning: This section is really long click here to skip past the SAR levels.
Apple Watch Series 5 SAR (Radiation) Levels
GPS + Cellular Model A2095
1.6 W/kg (over 1 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.59
2.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.36
4.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Wrist: 0.34
GPS + Cellular Model A2157
1.6 W/kg (over 1 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.52
2.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.36
4.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Wrist: 0.34
GPS + Cellular Model A2094
1.6 W/kg (over 1 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.38
2.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.34
4.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Wrist: 0.39
GPS + Cellular Model A2156
1.6 W/kg (over 1 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.33
2.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.34
4.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Wrist: 0.39
GPS Model A2093
1.6 W/kg (over 1 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.16
2.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.06
4.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Wrist: 0.08
GPS Model A2092
1.6 W/kg (over 1 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.31
2.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.09
4.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Wrist: 0.07
Apple Watch Series 4 SAR (Radiation) Levels
GPS + CellularModel A1976
1.6 W/kg (over 1 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.25
2.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.22
4.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Wrist: 0.36
GPS + Cellular Model A2008
1.6 W/kg (over 1 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.36
2.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.22
4.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Wrist: 0.36
GPS + Cellular Model A1975
1.6 W/kg (over 1 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.25
2.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.27
4.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Wrist: 0.34
GPS + Cellular Model A2007
1.6 W/kg (over 1 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.37
2.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.27
4.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Wrist: 0.26
GPS Model A1977
1.6 W/kg (over 1 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.18
2.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.07
4.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Wrist: 0.07
GPS Model A1978
1.6 W/kg (over 1 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.17
2.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.11
4.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Wrist: 0.10
Apple Watch Series 3 SAR (Radiation) Levels
GPS + Cellular Model A1860
1.6 W/kg (over 1 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.53
2.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.04
4.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Wrist: 0.18
GPS + Cellular Model A1889
1.6 W/kg (over 1 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.29
2.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.14
4.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Wrist: 0.15
GPS + Cellular Model A1890
1.6 W/kg (over 1 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.16
2.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.14
4.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Wrist: 0.14
GPS + Cellular Model A1861
1.6 W/kg (over 1 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.52
2.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.06
4.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Wrist: 0.34
GPS + Cellular Model A1891
1.6 W/kg (over 1 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.35
2.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.16
4.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Wrist: 0.18
GPS + Cellular Model A1892
1.6 W/kg (over 1 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.25
2.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.16
4.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Wrist: 0.18
GPS Model A1858
1.6 W/kg (over 1 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.17
2.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.04
4.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Wrist: 0.034
GPS Model A1859
1.6 W/kg (over 1 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.11
2.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.03
4.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Wrist: 0.023
Apple Watch Series 2 SAR (Radiation) Levels
Model A1757, A1816
1.6 W/kg (over 1 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.175
2.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.056
4.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Wrist: 0.049
Model A1758, A1817
1.6 W/kg (over 1 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.182
2.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.058
4.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Wrist: 0.054
Apple Watch Series 1 SAR (Radiation) Levels
Model A1802
1.6 W/kg (over 1 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.210
2.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.041
4.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Wrist: 0.018
Model A1803
1.6 W/kg (over 1 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.169
2.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.057
4.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Wrist: 0.018
Apple Watch (1st Generation) 1 SAR (Radiation) Levels
Model A1553
1.6 W/kg (over 1 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.153
2.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.073
4.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Wrist: 0.024
Model A1554
1.6 W/kg (over 1 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.109
2.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Head: 0.037
4.0 W/kg (over 10 g) SAR Limit
Wrist: 0.061
Oof, I know that was a ton of data and made this article really long, but I hadn’t found any resource online that put all the Apple watch SAR levels on a single page, so I thought I’d make it.
Which Apple Watch Has The Lowest Radiation Levels?
When we’re looking at which apple watch has the highest or lowest radiation levels, we have to look at two measurements, the head measurement, which is measured at 10mm of separation, and the wrist measurement which is taken with no separation.
For the head measurement, the lowest radiation Apple watch is the very first Apple watch Model A1554 with a head measurement of .109 W/kg.
For the wrist measurement, the Apple watch with the lowest radiation would be the Series 1 and the Series 3, both of which have models whose wrist measurements were just .018 W/kg.
Which Apple Watch Has The Highest Radiation Levels?
For the head measurement, the highest radiation Apple watch would be the Series 5 Cellular Model A2095 with a head measurement of .59 W/kg.
For the wrist measurement, the highest radiation Apple watch would also be the Series 5 Cellular version with a wrist measurement of .39 W/kg.
