wireless headphones safety

October 15, 2007 4:48 PM

Is it safe to use wireless headphones. Any possibilities of harmful radiation ?
posted by tom123 to Health & Fitness (11 answers total)

The headphones are just on the receiving end and they're most likely not transmitting anything. It's the same level of danger as anything broadcasting a wireless signal around the house, so I'd say no.
posted by monkeymadness at 4:53 PM on October 15, 2007

Yes. They wouldn't be allowed on the market if they were unsafe.

AFAIK, by design, they emit a hell of a lot less radiation than a mobile phone.
posted by ReiToei at 4:56 PM on October 15, 2007

Yes.
No.
posted by The Deej at 5:17 PM on October 15, 2007 [1 favorite]

If they don't transmit and simply receive a signal then they are probably safe as far as those things go. But in the wider sense of what various broadcasting devices near or on our bodies and next to our brains will do the answer is we basically don't know. I've seen some studies linking heavy cell phone use to a certain type of brain tumor but it didn't seem to be very definite or conclusive. But it's really only within the past 10-15 years that these devices have become widespread and the health effects, if any, may not be known for decades.
posted by 6550 at 5:48 PM on October 15, 2007

Ra-di-a-tion. Yes, indeed. You hear the most outrageous lies about it. Half-baked goggle-box do-gooders telling everybody it's bad for you. Pernicious nonsense!
posted by flabdablet at 5:55 PM on October 15, 2007 [2 favorites]

Thanks for that article, flabdablet. It's always good to have stuff to point people to.
posted by dmd at 6:39 PM on October 15, 2007

It was vacapinta's find.
posted by flabdablet at 7:05 PM on October 15, 2007

The wifi laptop that's sitting on your crotch as you typed this question is pushing out much more radiation than those headphones ever could.
posted by damn dirty ape at 7:15 PM on October 15, 2007

Of course you should also consider the potential of hearing loss :P
posted by Chuckles at 7:45 PM on October 15, 2007

More details on what you mean by 'headset'?
Infra-red stereo headphones are about as safe as humanly possible.
BlueTooth phone headsets, on the other hand, do actually transmit occasionally, and are crammed in awfully close to your not-easily-fixed brain.

Not that I can personally cast a substantial doubt on Vacapinta/Flabdablet's article, but the part that begins:

Q. You began studying the physiological effects of microwave radiation in 1975, putting squirrel monkeys in a microwave chamber...

sounds kind of like those "DDT IS GOOD FOR MEEEE!!!!" Dow chemical ads. Another, less fried-monkey-filled opinion to throw into the pot is this article.
posted by Orb2069 at 8:07 PM on October 15, 2007

flabdablet ftw.
posted by polyglot at 10:39 PM on October 15, 2007