Cell Phones, especially smartphones, emit a large amount of EMF radiation and microwave radiation while you are using them. The amount of radiation absorbed by the body is measured in the form of a SAR (Specific Absorption Rate) that is intended to be a comparative number to allow us to compare the dangers of various devices. You see, the FCC has set protocols for how cell phones should be tested for this, and each phone is assigned a SAR). This SAR has to be somewhere below 1.6 watts per killogram/1g. This amount is intended to be the max amount of radiation that the tested phone should put out at max use.

The primary problem is, SAR rates allowed by Cell Phone manufacturers are far above what is safe for human bodies, and the adverse health risks of extended cell phone use are staggering. Thousands of studies have shown that the EMF radiation from Cell phones and similar devices can cause symptoms such as:

Fatigue

Trouble Sleeping –

Tinnitus

Brain Fog

Chest Pain and Heart Palpitations

Skin Reactions

Slow recovery from illness

Depression

Moodiness

Anxiety

Twitching

Feeling Less Productive

Slurring of words

Nausea or vomiting

Check out my post about EMF Radiation Symptoms for more on this.

So the issue with governmental safety standards when it comes to EMF radiation from Cell phones and other devices, is that studies have shown that EMF radiation can cause biological damage at levels 76,000 times below SAR limits for manufacturers.

A report called the BioInitiative report, published in 2012 compiled over 1800 completed studies that all show dramatic biological damage that results from even low-level EMF exposure.

Now that we’ve talked a little bit about the dangers of cell phones, let’s do our best to answer the question:

(Also, I would love for you to take just a minute and check out Nicolas Pineault’s groundbreaking E-book “A Non-Tinfoil Guide To EMFs.” It is the most entertaining and informative book on EMF radiation you’ll ever read, I promise.)

Do Cell Phones Emit Radiation When Not In Use?

The answer is Yes, but it is much less than when it is being used.

When you’re cell phone is turned on, but you’re not actively using it to talk, or text, or play a game, it still has to constantly connect with cell phone towers nearby to maintain it’s connection and allow you to have constant internet access. This allows for things like app notifications, iMessage texts, dashboard updates, and much more.

Even though you’re not actively using the phone, your smartphone still has a ton of things it’s trying to do all the time to stay updated. This use does give off the same EMF radiation that talking on the cell phone does, just a bit less. Check out my post about Radiation in the bedroom for some great tips on how to reduce Cell Phone radiation and much more.

I would also very highly recommend that you get a quality EMF meter. This will help you to understand how much EMF radiation your cell phone is emitting when it is not in use, and when you are using it. I would suggest the new TriField TF2 (read my review) as it’s easy to use, lasts forever, is extremely accurate, and measures all three types of EMF radiation. If you’re looking for a low-cost EMF meter I really like the Meterk (read my review).

You can see from the video testimonial below how much radiation is still being emitted from a cell phone, even when it is not in use. This video is from a Berkeley city council meeting in November of 2014, where members were deliberating over the “Cell Phone Right to Know” ordinance.

The ordinance would require cell phone retailers within city limits to tell their customers about the radiation exposure that is normally buried in the fine print of the user manual. Ultimately the ordinance did pass, and this testimonial about how much cell phones do emit radiation when not in use was paramount in that decision.

Do Cell Phones Emit Radiation When Turned Off?

This one is a bit tougher to answer because it depends somewhat on the manufacturer and the phone. As a rule, turning a cell phone off should be the same as removing the battery, no operations should continue, and therefore no radiation should continue to be emitted.

However, it would see that some newer smartphones do have some memory maintenance functions that continue to maintain certain data on the logic board even when the phone is off. However, even if this is true, the amount of EMF radiation would be practically nothing.

What Can I Do?

Go read my post about Cell Phones and Male Fertility for a ton more information about how dangerous cell phones are, and tips to prevent damage.

The best things you can do to prevent this kind of radiation damage are:

limit cell phone use

turn your cell phone off when not using it,

keep your cell phone away from your body when possible

use headphones or Airtube headphones

I have an EMF protection case from Defendershield that I absolutely love and highly recommend that you can check out.