Your work mobile and you

After my previous post concerning the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) of the FreeRunner I received a couple of comments mentioning other Oxford Archaeology provided mobile phones, and a mailing list thread sprung up along the lines of "what is that long haired hippy on about now?"

What is SAR then? In simpleton terms (as in the terms I understand it), it's a measure of the maximum amount of phone's transmitted energy that ends up being absorbed into your head rather than travelling to the nearest mobile tower. Low SAR values are good. We're told that:

In Europe, the European Union Council has adopted the recommendations made by the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP Guidelines 1998). These recommendations set a SAR limit of 2.0 W/kg in 10g of tissue. The UK Government has endorsed this limit (following a report by the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones) and the five mobile phone network operators have agreed to voluntarily adopt the ICNIRP guidelines for public exposure. All mobile phones on sale in the UK comply with this limit.

Below is a table I knocked up to show the maximum SAR values of phones currently provided by Oxford Archaeology to members of staff. Also included (under the break) are a handful of phones that are currently kicking around the office within sight of me. The FreeRunner then is comparable to other phones we provide, although is at the top end; personal phones currently carried can have higher results, including Anna's "pie cooker" Sony Ericsson:

If your work provided mobile isn't in the list above, send me an email and I'll look it up for you.