Influence of Use Conditions and Mobile Phone Categories on the Distribution of Specific Absorption Rate in Different Anatomical Parts in the Brain

Abstract

SAR distributions in different anatomical parts of the brain were estimated for different use conditions and phone categories for the purpose of exposure assessment in epidemiological studies on RF exposure and brain cancer risk. The results suggested a variability of the exposure of the different parts depending on use conditions and mobile phone categories and highlighted the importance of evaluating the risk by connecting the tumor location to phone categories and use conditions. It was observed that the RF exposure of structures, particularly for those at the back of the brain, is sensitive to the phone shape and the antenna position relative to the head. The temporal lobe was generally the part with the highest exposure to RF, except for flip-type phones with the antenna on top extended. Occipital lobe and cerebellum were generally the second-highest exposed parts; exposure of parietal and frontal lobes were generally low, except for flip-type phones with the antenna in the center. It was observed that the exposure of the cerebellum cannot be neglected, whereas it was generally assumed to be low in previous epidemiological studies.