Apple: "Read all safety information below and operating instructions before using iPad to avoid injury."
Printed copy of the safety information is provided with purchase. However, the manual is a small booklet of 3 1/4" x 5". The text is so small that they are practically illegible without magnifying glasses. For a legible copy, consumers have
to look it up on the internet. Most parents and teachers never read it.
Here's
what the manual says:
Exposure
to Radio Frequency Energy iPad contains
radio transmitters and
receivers. When on, iPad sends and receives radio frequency
(RF) energy
through its antenna. The Wi-Fi and Bluetooth® antennas
are located
behind the screen to the left of the Home button, and behind the
Apple logo. iPad has been tested and meets the SAR
exposure requirements
for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth operation.
A
cellular antenna is located at the top edge of iPad Wi-Fi +
3G, when oriented
with the Home button at the bottom. For optimal mobile device
performance and to be sure
that human exposure to RF energy
does not exceed the FCC, IC, and European Union guidelines, always
follow these instructions and precautions: Orient the device
in portrait mode with the Home button at the bottom of the
display, or in landscape mode with the cellular antenna (located
under the black edge at the top of the device) away from your
body or other objects...
If
you are still concerned about exposure to RF energy, you can
further limit
your exposure by limiting the amount of time using
iPad Wi-Fi
+ 3G in wireless mode, since
time is a factor in how much exposure
a person receives, and by placing more
distance between your body
and iPad Wi-Fi + 3G, since exposure level drops off
dramatically with
distance.
The
manual warns that if a user does not handle the iPad exactly as
instructed, the radiation level will exceed governments' exposure
limits for humans.
Children
are targeted for the marketing of such devices, but the safety
warning is buried inside an online manual. Without awareness of the warning, parents let children handle the iPads as below. The iPad is often placed on the children's laps, against their reproductive organs, or in their hands which are touching the antennas.
Instead of treating the iPads as radiofrequency transmitters and
receivers as declared in the user manual, parents and children treat them as toys.
As
explained in a previous post,
iPad exposure should be handled with the same caution as cellphone exposure. SAR
(specific absorption rate) between cellphone and iPad are
similar. Furthermore, peak level radiation of iPad is many times higher than peak
level radiation of cellphone.
http://www.safeinschool.org/2013/03/health-canadas-wifi-myth.html
Similar to what's admitted in the iPad's user manual, the World Health Organization's "Base stations and wireless technologies Fact sheet" states that exposure near the "source" of the radiation "may exceed international exposure limits."
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs304/en/index.html
http://www.safeinschool.org/2013/03/health-canadas-wifi-myth.html
Similar to what's admitted in the iPad's user manual, the World Health Organization's "Base stations and wireless technologies Fact sheet" states that exposure near the "source" of the radiation "may exceed international exposure limits."
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs304/en/index.html
Offering
a child an iPad for hours a day - with WiFi
on, regardless whether the internet is
accessed or not - is similar to giving a child an
actively-transmitting cellphone (as during voice calls) to handle for
hours a day.
Pushing
for the use of iPads in long duration = pushing for similar health
consequences as seen from heavy cellphone use, except that it's now on
younger and more vulnerable brains and bodies.
The
literature from the WHO and Health Canada, on the "safety" of WiFi, only
covers low-level background signals of routers "from a
distance", it has no provision for near-field exposure to
WiFi-enabled devices such as tablets and laptops. This is explicitly
stated in the wording of their advice.
WiFi
microwave signal, be it from a router or from a mobile device,
does not stop until the router is disabled or the WiFi function of
the device is turned off. It does not matter if the user is browsing
the internet or not. Parents or teachers often leave the WiFi function on for convenience and hand the tablet or smartphone to children for games and apps that do not require internet connection, not knowing that the radiation continues while the child is just playing games on the device.
Also,
as seen in the user manual, there are multiple antennas embedded at
the back of the iPad. Children or adults definitely should not place it on their
laps.*
Please take a look at the following videos:
iPad iPhone Laptop Radiation Measurements
http://www.safeinschool.org/2012/01/ipad-iphone-wi-fi-radiation-and.html
* As shown in the video at the bottom of the above page, the measurement of magnetic fields at the back of the iPad (free of WiFi's RF signals) shows that even when the iPad is not on wireless mode, it's not advisable to place the unit on the lap.
Related posts:
Updated Medical Advisory on WiFi Radiation and Children's Health from governmental bodies and doctors' associations:
http://www.safeinschool.org/2012/01/ipad-iphone-wi-fi-radiation-and.html
* As shown in the video at the bottom of the above page, the measurement of magnetic fields at the back of the iPad (free of WiFi's RF signals) shows that even when the iPad is not on wireless mode, it's not advisable to place the unit on the lap.
Related posts:
Updated Medical Advisory on WiFi Radiation and Children's Health from governmental bodies and doctors' associations:
http://citizensforsafetechnology.org/uploads/scribd/Medical-Advisory-WiFi-and-Children-06.pdf
21st Century Learning: Higher Radiation from iPads on WiFi than Cellphones that are Actively Transmitting
http://www.safeinschool.org/2013/03/health-canadas-wifi-myth.html
21st Century Learning: Higher Radiation from iPads on WiFi than Cellphones that are Actively Transmitting
http://www.safeinschool.org/2013/03/health-canadas-wifi-myth.html