AirPods..a health and science question

[rowdyhillrambler]

First of all-I know less about technology than a broken brick does.. that’s fact, that’s why I am asking you all.

My 12 year old daughter was goven AirPods for the holidays, she has been rocking out to Tears For Fears and Billie Eillish hard on them..

I am by no means an alarmist, I don’t wear a 6 quart pot strapped to my bean-but I do feel that our actions and things we do surely have consequences. I believe in eating good food and climate change and science...

So-I fell into an article about AirPods and cancer and tumors and all that.. is there any sort of science or research to back this up? Microwaves in your skull?

Really-is this or should this be a worry?

I am a very good welder and carpenter, but a sciencetist I am not-

[Blue Jays]

I have never used them because my sense is they are bad for long-term hearing.
I also put my iPhone on airplane mode in the house and avoid ever holding it against my head.
That energy emanating from cellphones still needs more research to see how it impacts us.

[Toddykins]

Worry about hearing loss over time - yes
Worry about cancer; ‘energy’, etc - no

[Mabouya]

So-I fell into an article about AirPods and cancer and tumors and all that.. is there any sort of science or research to back this up? Microwaves in your skull?

Where was this article? If it was in "Science," the JAMA, the Lancet, or some other such respectable, peer-reivewed publication, then I might worry, but if it was on a web site alongside other stories warning about the measles vaccine and dental fillings, then forget about it.

Re: Loud music

When I was a kid one of my best bud's father owned a nightclub and had a band. At carnival time they would load the band on a big flatbed truck, complete with massive generators and huge, huge speakers. The kids (including me) would stand at the front throwing candy and other stuff to the crowds at street level, while the band played behind us at ear-splitting levels. The truck would drive a pre-determined route and the whole thing would take about three hours. I don't know if that's why, but for as long as I can remember I've had a moderate case of tinnitus. It seems loud enough to me, even as I sit here typing this, but I say "moderate" because it doesn't interfere with me sleeping or anything like that.

Bottom line - hearing can be damaged by loud sounds. Beware.

[Mark Kelly]

There is reasonable evidence that 2.4 GHz RF radiation is harmful, the effect being mediated by voltage gated calcium channel activation. Reducing exposure is probably wise.

As I understand it the airpods use bluetooth, which uses a master / slave arrangement, the airpods will be slave and the sending device master. The slave only sends data when it is requested by the master and this will be kept to a minimum to maximise battery life. The slave will also be a very low power signal for the same reason.

Dose is exposure time x field intensity, in turn field intensity is proportional to source power divided by the square of distance. I'd need the actual data but it's likely that the airpods, even though they are very close to her head, contribute less to the overall dose than the phone with which they are paired.

[Mabouya]

Dose is exposure time x field intensity, in turn field intensity is proportional to source power divided by the square of distance. I'd need the actual data but it's likely that the airpods, even though they are very close to her head, contribute less to the overall dose than the phone with which they are paired.

In this regard, texting may be safer than actually speaking to someone using the phone, since the device is significantly farther away from your head/brain (which one might speculate is more likely to be sensitive to RF fields) than your hands.

[sk_tle]

In this regard, texting may be safer than actually speaking to someone using the phone, since the device is significantly farther away from your head/brain (which one might speculate is more likely to be sensitive to RF fields) than your hands.

Is that the reason most people are now doing phone calls using the external speaker and holding it at the front of their mouth ?

Right now I am more concerned about cancer in err...much lower places as I'm often storing the phone in my jeans front pocket.

[Octave]

The risk of cancer from this, or 5G which everyone seems to be freaking out about, is infinitesimally small. There are much bigger things to worry about, like the fact that airpods have a half-life of under a year on average, cannot be repaired (all of the internal components are glued together), and cannot be recycled in any capacity. They are pure landfill fodder and their stain on the earth will outlive us all.

Oh, and not great for hearing, either.

But don't worry about the cancer.

[Mark Kelly]

A review paper recently gave odds ratios for Glioblastoma Multiforme of 1.5 - 2 attributable to radio frequency exposure. That would correspond to an increase in incidence of about 1-2 per 100,000 per year. Not a huge risk, but not infinitessimal either. GBM is a particularly nasty cancer which killed my sister in law a couple of years ago.

Please note, I'm not trying to be a luddite scaremonger, I continue to use my mobile phone and wifi. One of the things I look for when assessing this sort of thing is that the proposed mechanism makes sense. As an example, I think the jury is out on the danger of PFAS exposure until someone can explain how it occurs: the known mechanism of toxicity of high level exposure to PFAS in rats is very highly dose dependent, the PPT exposure levels in the environment could not cause any damage by that route.

The paper I first linked gives a cogent account of how low levels of RF radiation induce cellular changes, including DNA damage. That makes me more likely to think that there could be something here.

[rowdyhillrambler]

So far-I really appreciate the responses.. this is why I asked here. I can understand and reason this info.

Thx again and feel free to carry on with convo-

[NYCfixie]

Is that the reason most people are now doing phone calls using the external speaker and holding it at the front of their mouth ?

No, they do it because they have no concern for others and I find this practice especially annoying.

[Peter Polack]

In this regard, texting may be safer than actually speaking to someone using the phone, since the device is significantly farther away from your head/brain (which one might speculate is more likely to be sensitive to RF fields) than your hands.

But then you'd be susceptible to cancer of the thumbs.

[j44ke]

Environmental factors are more likely to have an impact I think - pollution in the air, water, Radon, etc.

[Bobonli]

Loudness in close proximity to the ear drum and associated apparatus of hearing is bad. Sticking things in you ear canal on a regular basis is bad too. I have bad ears from a childhood issue and my ENT reminds me to be conservative about stuffing stuff into my ear canals. I have ear protection for shooting and he much preferred me to do over the ear protection instead of molded ear pieces. Even for someone with relatively health ears it can be an issue. The late Neil Pearl wrote about getting ear infections as a result of having in-ear monitors in his sweaty ears all those years on the road. If it can happen to the GOAT drummer it can happen to us mere mortals.

I’m not convinced there’s science supporting the claims that the technology will fry your brain or genitals ( years ago there was a warning against carrying your phone in a front pocket because it would cook your testicles) BUT. these things are relatively new, so I bet the data set studying these issues is small.

Moderation is key. Don’t spend your whole day with something stuffed inside your ears.

[mulp]

I've looked into the science a bit and do not find bluetooth to be of any concern. The strength (energy) of a signal is proportional to the distance that it has to travel. The fact that most of the studies look at cell phone signals is because they are required to travel a much longer distance than bluetooth which travels, at best around feet. As such, the impact to a person's body is quite minimal, even if they are using it all the time.

The hearing degradation caused by earpods/airpods is quite substantial though, its extremely important to keep the volume low to avoid any type of hearing damage or degradation.

[j44ke]

I think this is a genius invention for keeping your EarPods together and have no idea how they thought it up. Clearly the work of superhumans.

[Matthew Strongin]

I think this is a genius invention for keeping your EarPods together and have no idea how they thought it up. Clearly the work of superhumans.

Ha! Given how hard it is for me to keep earbuds in my ears, every time I see EarPods I just imagine how many I'd have to replace.

And, yes, keep the volume down. I did a number on myself with years of cranking music through headphones and going to concerts with no ear protection.

[Colinmclelland]

...

And, yes, keep the volume down. I did a number on myself with years of cranking music through headphones and going to concerts with no ear protection.

I just got old instead

[Matthew Strongin]

I just got old instead

I started doing that too. I didn’t mean to, it just happened.

[monadnocky]

And, yes, keep the volume down. I did a number on myself with years of cranking music through headphones and going to concerts with no ear protection.

My hearing falls into one of two general epochs: pre-live Motorhead and post-live Motorhead.
Not joking.