Bluetooth question

[Chuckaluck]

I just got a new I Mac with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. My question is how safe is Bluetooth technology? Is there radiation floating around my room now? I am computer dumb so this stuff is confusing to me. I do realize that this technology is new , so that long term studies are still down the road.

 

[wedwards]

bluetooth has been around since 2000, so i expect we will see some reports next year from do gooders. i have been using these devices since they first came out and havent notice any ill effects....well, other than that third arm thats started growing out of my back...but other than that, no ill effects...

i think you will be safe for what you are using bluetooth for.

 

[Chuckaluck]

bluetooth has been around since 2000, so i expect we will see some reports next year from do gooders. i have been using these devices since they first came out and havent notice any ill effects....well, other than that third arm thats started growing out of my back...but other than that, no ill effects...

i think you will be safe for what you are using bluetooth for.

third arm growing from your back? I am assuming you have seen the movie "The Dark Backward"? LOL!

 

[Matt555]

Don't worry about it. The chemicals in the air we breathe and the water we drink, the growth hormones and antibiotics in meat, corn syrup in almost all packaged snack food, and pretty much everything else that accompanies leading a normal life in America is of far more concern than bluetooth or cell phone technology for that matter.

 

[Matt555]

And yes, I am an American and love my corn syrup induced food and genetically modified chicken breasts which are big enough to feed a whole family.

 

[mdunn]

at most, theres the same radiation as a mobile phone from bluetooth

 

[SRock]

at most, theres the same radiation as a mobile phone from bluetooth

Which according to several studies is perfectly safe. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Wendy]

I would be more afraid of the pain in your ear if it does not fit perfect than any other problems that will probably not occur.

 

[sol92258]

well, it is called "blue tooth" for a reason, ya know....the radiation reacts with the enamel of your teeth, causing them to glow blue, letting you know when you've had enough exposure for that day.

or something.



(I'm kidding, all it is is the same wireless signal as your wireless internet, or other wireless technology, though in a different format, if you will)

 

[funkyb]

Yes there is 'radiation' from bluetooth devices, but these are electromagnetic emissions which are at wholly different (energies) than radiation caused by nuclear decay (in case there's any confusion over the use of the word 'radiation').

It's important to realize that there is *always* electromagnetic radiation around your head - Radiant heat, all visible light, television & radio transmissions, microwaves and emissions form microwave ovens, gamma rays, etc. are all forms of electromagnetic radiation and are essentially the same stuff. What makes radiation (bad) different from radiation (normal) are the energies carried by each photon (packet of emissions) as well as the nature of interaction of those photons with other matter and the power density of the overall emission.

Very high energy photons have an ionization effect and can damage DNA, this is why nuclear fallout is so bad - there are extremely high energy gamma waves that can penetrate easily as well as interact strongly, and wreak havoc along the way. Very low energy photos transmitted at low power density do not tend to ionize matter and may interact only weakly with most matter.

Cell phones and other communications gear such as bluetooth devices involve radio waves - a very low energy electromagnetic emission (each photon does not carry much energy, interacts weakly with non-conductive matter). This is the same type of radiation saturating the air from TV & Radio broadcasts and there's plenty of it surrounding you whether you're using these devices or not. Note that visible light carries higher per-photon electromagnetic energy than radio waves do.

What is really at issue when discussing potential health impacts of radio transmitters is the power density (overall amount of emissions, as opposed to the energy of each emitted photon). Because we live in a 3-spacial dimensional world, the power density of a radio transmitter decreases proportional to the square of the distance to the transmitter. This means power density decreases quite rapidly as distance increases slowly. The concern with items like cell phones and bluetooth devices is that you're placing them close to your head. However, bluetooth devices use very weak transmitters (since the bluetooh specification only allows for ~30ft usable distance as compared to cell phones which have to be seen by towers potentially many miles away). Bluetooth transmitter powers are many orders of magnitude lower than cell phones (a few milliwatts vs several hundred milliwatts for cellular devices) and you can consider them safe (or at least much much safer than cell phones themselves).

I wouldn't worry one bit about your new bluetooth keyboard & mouse, they are a drop in the bucket of electromagnetic energy that is surronding your body and are one of the lower power-density transmitters you're likely to be near. If you're going to worry about anything, be more concerned about cell phones themselves and use a bluetooth device to keep the significantly more powerful handset transmitter farther away from your head.

 

[aquilla]

there is of course a so far undiscussed danger with your bluetooth mouse...
the exclusion of a wire now means it can both go flat and go missing

 

[New2DEShaving_Montreal]

My teeth have turned blue since I began using Bluetooth devices many years ago. Nothing to complain about. Really makes people look at you more than once. Happy bluetoothing.

 

[raisindot]

For a year I have been using a Bluetooth wireless stereo headphone connected to my iPod and so far I have affects not notised significant mental any detrimental on my inteligense, short term memmory or not notised signifikant affex detrementil mmm wot wuz I talking about oooo nize kitty

Jef in uh, uh, big room with white walls.

 

[GFlanagan3]

Yes there is 'radiation' from bluetooth devices, but these are electromagnetic emissions which are at wholly different (energies) than radiation caused by nuclear decay (in case there's any confusion over the use of the word 'radiation').

It's important to realize that there is *always* electromagnetic radiation around your head - Radiant heat, all visible light, television & radio transmissions, microwaves and emissions form microwave ovens, gamma rays, etc. are all forms of electromagnetic radiation and are essentially the same stuff. What makes radiation (bad) different from radiation (normal) are the energies carried by each photon (packet of emissions) as well as the nature of interaction of those photons with other matter and the power density of the overall emission.

Very high energy photons have an ionization effect and can damage DNA, this is why nuclear fallout is so bad - there are extremely high energy gamma waves that can penetrate easily as well as interact strongly, and wreak havoc along the way. Very low energy photos transmitted at low power density do not tend to ionize matter and may interact only weakly with most matter.

Cell phones and other communications gear such as bluetooth devices involve radio waves - a very low energy electromagnetic emission (each photon does not carry much energy, interacts weakly with non-conductive matter). This is the same type of radiation saturating the air from TV & Radio broadcasts and there's plenty of it surrounding you whether you're using these devices or not. Note that visible light carries higher per-photon electromagnetic energy than radio waves do.

What is really at issue when discussing potential health impacts of radio transmitters is the power density (overall amount of emissions, as opposed to the energy of each emitted photon). Because we live in a 3-spacial dimensional world, the power density of a radio transmitter decreases proportional to the square of the distance to the transmitter. This means power density decreases quite rapidly as distance increases slowly. The concern with items like cell phones and bluetooth devices is that you're placing them close to your head. However, bluetooth devices use very weak transmitters (since the bluetooh specification only allows for ~30ft usable distance as compared to cell phones which have to be seen by towers potentially many miles away). Bluetooth transmitter powers are many orders of magnitude lower than cell phones (a few milliwatts vs several hundred milliwatts for cellular devices) and you can consider them safe (or at least much much safer than cell phones themselves).

I wouldn't worry one bit about your new bluetooth keyboard & mouse, they are a drop in the bucket of electromagnetic energy that is surrounding your body and are one of the lower power-density transmitters you're likely to be near. If you're going to worry about anything, be more concerned about cell phones themselves and use a bluetooth device to keep the significantly more powerful handset transmitter farther away from your head.

to tag off of this wonderful explanation-I remember a report a few years ago about cigarettes having radiation- I am NOT saying they are healthy- but they have radiation the same way ANY burning material does. For THAT reason (radiation- as in a burning ember) they are NOT dangerous. Not any more so in THAT sense than a log in the fireplace radiates heat. Good question, good answer and take the fear mongering with a grain of salt. Merry Christmas and Happy Shaving!

 

[KeepsItClean]

I'd be more concerned about doing your banking online via bluetooth and/or unsecured network than radiation!

 

[funkyb]

I'd be more concerned about doing your banking online via bluetooth and/or unsecured network than radiation!

There is some very real truth to this, and I worry about it too. In fact, I take it a step farther and refuse to do any finance-related work over any WiFi that is not encrypted WPA2 or better. When I travel and need to use public WiFi or wired networks, I use dd-wrt (3rd party firmware for linksys routers) to set up a vpn server on my home network, then remote in to my house encrypted before doing anything serious.

Bluetooth devices can be secure, but in practice most are not. Take my cellphone headset - the default handshake code is 0000, as it is on almost all similar devices. Knowing that code makes it trivial for someone to listen in (and even if you don't, there are plenty of ways to figure it out).

For WiFi, WEP encryption is a joke and can be cracked in under a few minutes by anyone within range using a laptop and some special software that I'm not going to name. WPA-PSK/TKIP was much better, but a similar vulnerability was made public fairly recently and can now be cracked in 10-20 minutes with the same hardware. As far as I know, WPA2-PSK is still fairly secure, requiring much longer to crack which keeps key variation effective, but it's only a matter of time before that falls too.

 

[SRock]

well, it is called "blue tooth" for a reason, ya know....the radiation reacts with the enamel of your teeth, causing them to glow blue, letting you know when you've had enough exposure for that day.

or something.



(I'm kidding, all it is is the same wireless signal as your wireless internet, or other wireless technology, though in a different format, if you will)

I was waiting for you to chime in.