Absorption of wireless radiation in the child versus adult brain and eye from cell phone conversation or virtual reality

With many nations having more mobile phones than people, and the rapidly increasing use of wireless transmitting devices by infants, tod- dlers and young children, it is important to consider children’s unique absorption of radiofrequency (RF), also called microwave (MW) non- ionizing radiation (Gandhi et al., 1996; de Salles et al., 2006; Wiart et al., 2008; Christ et al., 2010) and potential health impacts.

Standards for wireless devices have not changed since 1997, and are based on the assumption that the only adverse effect to be avoided is heat (Gandhi et al., 2012). Mobile phones are certified to be within RF radiation regulatory limits using robot-assisted determination of peak spatial Specific Absorption Rate (psSAR) – i.e. maximum dose rate –within a phantom of a large, adult male head and body, the Standard Anthropometric Mannequin (SAM). The plastic SAM head mold, filled with a homogeneous liquid to simulate dielectric characteristics of soft tissues at the frequency of the device being tested, is assumed to be valid for those with younger and smaller heads (U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Office of Engineering and Technology, 1997; IEEE International Committee on Electromagnetic Safety (SCC39), 2005), to test compliance with outdated standards set for exposure to the entire head. This ignores human anatomy, and the fact that the brain and eyes are target tissues where such radiation can be especially biologically important. Studies have consistently indicated that children’s brains absorb substantially higher peak doses than adults (Morris et al., 2015; Foster and Chou, 2016).