Airpods And Headache/Ear Pain

[jcmoney10]

Yes, confirmation bias is a thing.


You're desiring a negative to be proven to you. Like, prove that Santa Claus does not exist; it can't be done.


What is your qualifications for determining it has not been studied enough?

Or are you just assuming/fearmongering?


Not sure what that has to do with anything, CRTs is an entirely unrelated thing to bluetooth wireless tech. Also, many CRTs defaulted to 72/75Hz to avoid flickering.

While I tend to agree with you most of what you've said, I do believe there could be some safety concerns regarding heavy Bluetooth use. Up to this point, most scientific studies regarding cellphones/Bluetooth usage don't measure usage at the level that most people in today's society use these devices. I've seen studies that measure average usage as 20min a day, which by today's standards would be considered rather lite usage for many people. Now my guess is that since many of these studies started or completely took play in the 90s- mid 2000's researchers used these metrics because cellphone usage wasn't as prevalent at the time.

While most studies proclaim cellphones and Bluetooth devices safe, many of them note a higher cancer rate in the heaviest of users. Now Bluetooth headphones are meant to be listened and used for hours on end. I know many people like myself will use headphones at work resulting in hours and hours of usage each day. Headphones by design are for heavy usage.

If these studies are to be believed, then the new, unstudied, Bluetooth headphone market could cause major issues. I'm hoping some of the newer studies that they are doing will take into consideration this new market and conduct more studies on real world heavy usage.

With all that be said, I'm going to reserve complete judgment until more research comes out.

Below are links to a couple studies that suggest these findings(site listed is a database website that links to over 20k articles on this matter. Each link will take you to a different study):
https://www.emf-portal.org/en/article/18215 - (calls 5hr/day usage implausible)
https://www.emf-portal.org/en/article/18715 - (calls 20min/day usage average)

 

[rijc99]

Perhaps the pain people are experiencing is from the fact the air pods don't fit them perfectly so they're making unconscious movements in an effort to try to keep them in the ear? Power them down and keep them in to see if the pain stays or goes away if you're worried about bluetooth causing it.

 

[Lennyvalentin]

While most studies proclaim cellphones and Bluetooth devices safe, many of them note a higher cancer rate in the heaviest of users.

It is important to understand that correlation does not prove causation. Also, it could be that "heavy bluetooth" users (I didn't even know that was a thing, hehe) are heavy users of technology in general, and thus might expose themselves to doses of whatever chemicals were used in the manufacturing of said devices, which would skew any bluetooth study being made.

You know that "new gadget smell" you get when opening up the packaging for the first time of something you just bought? That's Unnaturalness you're smelling, which is probably going to have health repercussions for some of us later in life.

 

[bhodinut]

Unnaturalness

The technical term is organic fumes or odors. Most of those dissipate pretty fast. A new car? Not as fast.

 

[Fried_Gold]

My AirPods hurt my right ear, I think it's more the fit than anything else.. It's not so bad sometimes but can really hurt other times, I may have to end up returning them even though I love them.

 

[jcmoney10]

Just curious as to what everyone thinks of this video?

Seems like a fair amount of EMF, but at the same time this is hardly scientific.

I love these things, but I am hesitant to use them for hours everyday like I want to, especially with many of the newest studies suggesting a link between brain cancer and long term cumulative use.

 

[bhodinut]

Here's the SAR report as tested by a certified UL lab. https://fccid.io/document.php?id=3118444

Looking at page 19 it's 0.461 W/kg (Rear Touch). Much less 0.028 W/kg (Right Touch).

 

[stanft]

Hi everyone,

until now I had use my AirPods for about two weeks regulary throughout the working days for at least 5-6 hours per day. But after reading this thread I am hesitant to use them any longer. Seems like nobody currently has a proven answer concerning a possible long-term impact on health. Very sad...

Regards,
Stephan

 

[jcmoney10]

Here's the SAR report as tested by a certified UL lab. https://fccid.io/document.php?id=3118444

Looking at page 19 it's 0.461 W/kg (Rear Touch). Much less 0.028 W/kg (Right Touch).

That's interesting, but I would assume that

Hi everyone,

until now I had use my AirPods for about two weeks regulary throughout the working days for at least 5-6 hours per day. But after reading this thread I am hesitant to use them any longer. Seems like nobody currently has a proven answer concerning a possible long-term impact on health. Very sad...

Regards,
Stephan

This is me exactly. I purchased these so I could use them at work, meaning I would be using them 6-8 hours a day 5 days a week. Unfortunately/fortunately, right after I purchased these I stumbled across someone talking about how unsafe Bluetooth and cell phones. I'm typically pretty skeptical of people who are always talking about how everything is going to kill you, so I decided to do some research into the topic just to see where this junk science was coming from.

This started me down a rabbit hole I wish I would have never went down, constantly reading research papers(Not just website articles), statistical analysis's, and various lab studies. To my surprise science is actually pretty split on the issue, which is quite concerning. Most of studies done from the mid to late 2000's and early suggest there is no harmful effects and that there is nothing to be concerned about, but always ending reports with "more research needs to be done". Starting around 2011, you see a rise in researchers finding a correlation between long-term/heavy cellphone use and a increase in brain cancer. Now, these researchers are still in the minority, but it seems like more and more each new study that comes out either finds a link between brain cancer, or suggest that it could be possible with heavy usage.

Now I understand that all these tests are done with cellphones in mind, and cellphones give off far more radiation than Bluetooth does, but when you take into consideration the studies on heavy usage and what that means it gets you to think about the safety of headphones. Even your heaviest cellphone users aren't going to have the phone up to their ear 6-8 hours a day 5 days a week, but that's exactly what many of users will do with Bluetooth headphones. Furthermore, unlike Bluetooth earpieces of the past, Airpods are always transmitting, even when they are not in use.

At the end of the day, I'm not 100% convinced either way as to whether Airpods are harmful or not. There are a lot of smart people out there doing research that are split on the topic, so I won't pretend that my opinion is more valuable than researchers on either side. I will say that videos like the one the I posted above, don't make me feel any better about the situation.
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Here's the SAR report as tested by a certified UL lab. https://fccid.io/document.php?id=3118444

Looking at page 19 it's 0.461 W/kg (Rear Touch). Much less 0.028 W/kg (Right Touch).

Maybe you know more than I do, but at such close range does it really matter if the Right Touch measurements are less than the Rear Touch measurements? I don't think the radiation is directional, meaning that its only going to shoot outward. With radiation going in all directions, wouldn't you be just as effected by the Rear Touch output?

 

[akil316]

I've been using some type of bluetooth headset/headphones everyday, 6 to 10 hrs a day, for the last 10 years and so far no health issues. ^_^

 

[jcmoney10]

I've been using some type of bluetooth headset/headphones everyday, 6 to 10 hrs a day, for the last 10 years and so far no health issues. ^_^

Hey man that's great, I hope your experience is the norm.

 

[stanft]

I just had a phone call with the german Apple support hotline. They did not have much information regarding EMF radiation. At least, they found the SAR value of 0.466 W/Kg. But there was no further information regarding i.e. any EMF shielding towards the head. So far, it seems like we are wearing two mobile phone equivalents in the ears for several hours per day :-(

 

[kis]

Hi everyone,

until now I had use my AirPods for about two weeks regulary throughout the working days for at least 5-6 hours per day. But after reading this thread I am hesitant to use them any longer. Seems like nobody currently has a proven answer concerning a possible long-term impact on health. Very sad...

Regards,
Stephan

yeah, the video above is quite revealing - they do indeed emit the equivalent of an airport extreme base station each.

 

[jcmoney10]

I just had a phone call with the german Apple support hotline. They did not have much information regarding EMF radiation. At least, they found the SAR value of 0.466 W/Kg. But there was no further information regarding i.e. any EMF shielding towards the head. So far, it seems like we are wearing two mobile phone equivalents in the ears for several hours per day :-(

Yea, unfortunately I doubt they train any of their support staff to answers those kind of questions. At the end of the day they have still complied with every and all government health sanctions, so they are in the clear. This kind of information will only become available once the government forces them to make it available.

 

[bhodinut]

My biggest concern with the AirPods is that Apple doesn't even list them on their RF products page. http://www.apple.com/legal/rfexposure/ They seem to list every other product. Where are the AirPods? They've had their report since August 2016 https://fccid.io/document.php?id=3118444

I guess in all fairness the Apple Pencil isn't listed either. It's also a Bluetooth device. Who knows?

 

[Neo1975]

No problems whatsoever.

Maybe your problems are not related to the Airpods or are psychosomatic.

 

[bhodinut]

No problems whatsoever.

Maybe your problems are not related to the Airpods or are psychosomatic.

Sticking an Apple Pencil in each ear doesn't cause any issues. Perhaps you're right.

 

[Neo1975]

Sticking an Apple Pencil in each ear doesn't cause any issues. Perhaps you're right.

Of course I'm right. Why not wear a tin foil hat and eat gluten free food.

 

[Lucifer666]

The risk is probably nil, but.....

They thought that about cigarettes. Think about this. Cigarettes were as widespread as cell phones. Younger people today don't realize how prevalent cigarettes were. The only difference is that only people 16 years, and older used them.

And they killed milions.

So it's possible cell phones are the new cigarettes. Any noise made against them is drowned out by those who stand to lose money. There's no one there to protect us, trust me

But most likely this is not the case, obviously.

 

[Volusia]

I have a device implanted in my chest that utilizes Bluetooth to communicate with the medical device's service (think ET phone home). Every morning it transmits any irregularities that my heart has experienced, and what actions, if any, the device has taken to correct those irregularities (for more information, Google Implanted Cardioverter Defibrillator). These devices, along with Pacemakers that utilize the same technology have been implanted in hundreds or thousands of patients and, to my knowledge, never created any issues regarding Bluetooth connective upon the body of a host.

 

[jcmoney10]

The risk is probably nil, but.....

They thought that about cigarettes. Think about this. Cigarettes were as widespread as cell phones. Younger people today don't realize how prevalent cigarettes were. The only difference is that only people 16 years, and older used them.

And they killed milions.

So it's possible cell phones are the new cigarettes. Any noise made against them is drowned out by those who stand to lose money. There's no one there to protect us, trust me

But most likely this is not the case, obviously.

I get the point you are making, but I think you're a little off. Cellphones are used by probably 95%+ of the population and I highly doubt cigarette use ever got that high. The highest number I've seen for cigarette usage was 42% (US based numbers, but probably fairly close to overall population) in 1965. As you said, smoking killed millions of people, and that was with only 42% of people smoking. If cellphones were as dangerous as cigarettes, I would think that with 95% of the world using them, we would start to see a increase in brain cancer related deaths, but we haven't.

Some studies have claimed to have found an increase in gliamos over the last 10 years, which could indicate a cellphone to cancer relationship, but even the increase itself is small compared to the overall population of cellphone users. With that being said, even that is hard to prove because only some countries keep detailed cancer records, while others do not. Trying to find whether gliamos have risen in the US is really hard to do because organizations that keep track of these sort of things don't seem to release trending numbers to the general public(if they do, I've been unable to find them). If you google "gliamos rates US" you will find a Safeemr.com article claiming brain cancer and gliamo rates are on the rise, but when you look at the studies they cite in the article, one claims that rates have only increased in one age group, while decreasing or staying flat in many others, and they don't believe the increase is cellphone related due to location and timing of the incidents. The other study claims the reason for the increase is unknown, and gives for less detail than the first study.

If cellphones were the new cigarettes, like so many are claiming, then why haven't we seen a spike in cellphone related cancers? I believe there is a possibility that cellphones and Bluetooth could provide some sort of negative effect, but I don't think it's even close to the level of danger that cigerattes are.

 

[bhodinut]

Why not wear a tin foil hat and eat gluten free food.

Where does one find actual tin foil? Gluten free food isn't as tasty.

 

[ColdShadow]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...arns-radiation-AirPods-just-bad.html#comments

I returned mine even before opening the box after reading this article and then this whole thread.

it's no joke and there is no way anyone can assure about safety of these (or any Bluetooth headset) currently.

better safe than sorry,it's a shame though,I was pretty hyped for the idea of ditching corded headphones.

 

[Neo1975]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...arns-radiation-AirPods-just-bad.html#comments

I returned mine even before opening the box after reading this article and then this whole thread.

it's no joke and there is no way anyone can assure about safety of these (or any Bluetooth headset) currently.

better safe than sorry,it's a shame though,I was pretty hyped for the idea of ditching corded headphones.

It's in the Daily Mail, it must be true. I wish that's all I had to worry about. You will worry yourself into bad health. People have been using Bluetooth earpieces for years. Calm down.

 

[ColdShadow]

It's in the Daily Mail, it must be true. I wish that's all I had to worry about. You will worry yourself into bad health. People have been using Bluetooth earpieces for years. Calm down.

I don't care about Daily Mail,but the source of the article is from a professor who researched this matters and his reasoning made sense.

the fact that there is conflicting opinions and research results is a reason enough to be concerned.

also even read the posts here,it's not just being over cautious.
There is genuine and legit concerns.

you keep these thong inside your ears close to your brain for hours..
and these are more potent than older Bluetooth headsets..IF Bluetooth headphones somehow cause cancer it doesn't show up in just few years and we can't access those numbers really.

these are very hard to find now but I managed to order one but I returned them unopened and I feel much better now.