Do AirPods give you cancer?

How Did the Rumor Start?

The hubbub began circulating on the Internet with a blog post in the Medium platform claiming that Bluetooth devices like Apple AirPods could cause cancer. Even though the post quickly went viral (As is usual for Apple Product), we should say that its claims are not backed up with sufficient scientific evidence.

The primary source of the freelance writer, Markham Heid, who published the original post, was a professor of biochemistry at the University of Colorado named Jeffery Phillips. His research suggests that exposure to Electromagnetic Field could possibly (but not certainly) induce DNA damages in the human genome and though, people should limit their exposure to any non-ionizing Electromagnetic Filed such as phones, cordless phones, cell towers, radio Wi-Fi and more.

My concern for AirPods is that their placement in the ear canal exposes tissues in the head to relatively high levels of radio-frequency radiation, he said. He also mistakenly mentioned a petition signed by 200-plus scientists from more than 40 countries to WHO and UN which warns against the potential health risk of devices emitting radiofrequency radiation, a technology that wireless and Bluetooth products rely on.

When the same mistake was replicated by the mainstream news outlets, it kicked off a lot of fear and chaos among the community of Apple users. But this does not mean that you should toss your iPods Pro. In the past, Apple's spokesman responded to apprehensions regarded AirPods expressing that it complied with current safety guidelines. Also, there is no conclusive evidence that AirPods and other Bluetooth devices are dangerous.

No, more than 200 Scientists didn't Sign A Petition About the Danger of Airpods

That's true, a group of more than 200 international scientists sent an Appeal to UN, WHO and UNEP Environment Program asking to strengthen current guidelines against the potential adverse health effects of non-ionizing electromagnetic fields ubiquitous in the modern life. However, quite contrary to misinformation widely distributed on social media, they didn't mention AirPods or any specific device in their letter. AirPods initially was released in 2016, one year after the controversy petition was written and certainly, they could not discuss of health risks of a product before it comes to existence.

Do Bluetooth Headphones Cause Cancer?

Cell phones emit non-ionizing EMF radiations as they communicate with cell towers. In 2018, a group of US scientists published the results of a study showing that cell phone radiation can cause cancer in rats. But this does not mean that the same is true in humans. No scientist will agree will this type of overgeneralization.

Besides, you should know that EMF radiations are divided into two groups: ionizing low-level radiation- the kind associated with, for example, x-rays, CT scans, and nuclear power plants-which is proved to cause cancer in human, rats and other mammals at high enough doses, and non-ionizing radiation. According to the American Cancer Society, the non-ionizing radiation created by phones are safe for human because they have not enough energy to break chemical bonds in DNA and trigger the mutation that may lead to cancer.

Like Cell Phones, Bluetooth uses non-ionizing EMF to make communication between devices possible. The difference is that Bluetooth emits a much lower level of radiation than cell phones. This can be justified by considering that your cell phone has to send an receive signals from the cell tower, likely located far away from your device, while EMF waves delivered by Bluetooth headset should have enough only power to travel between your cell phone and head. As a result, Bluetooth headsets can function at much lower radiofrequency power and may pose less of a danger than cell phones, if any.

How This is Related to Airpods?

Like any wireless headset, AirPods use the Bluetooth radio waves to transmit audios from your iPhone to your ears. Because Bluetooth devices consume much less power compared to other wireless gadgets it seems logical to conclude that Bluetooth headsets including AirPods are not dangerous. The AirPods' specific absorption rate (SAR), which measures how much radiation is absorbed by the body, is 0.466 watts per kilogram, well below the U.S. legal limit of 1.60 w/kg set by the Federal Communications Commission, and much less than the radiation emitted by phones themselves. This means that you don't necessarily have to put your beloved AirPods away unless you want to err on the side of caution.

The evidence we have so far is not convincing that Bluetooth headsets like AirPods can give you cancer. On the contrary, the cell phone fact sheet for the National Cancer Institute recommends using a hands-free device to reduce exposure to EMF from cell phones. Nevertheless, if you're a fan of precautionary principles, wearing wired earbuds is the only way to go.