User guide

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www.cancer.gov/ncicancerbulletin/NCI_Cancer_Bulle
tin_092308/page7.
WHAT DOES “SAR” MEAN?
In 1996, the FCC, working with the FDA, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, and other
agencies, established RF exposure safety guidelines
for wireless devices in the United States. Before a
wireless device model is available for sale to the
public, it must be tested by the manufacturer and
certified to the FCC that it does not exceed limits
established by the FCC. One of these limits is
expressed as a Specific Absorption Rate, or “SAR”.
SAR is a measure of the rate of absorption of RF
energy in the body. Tests for SAR are conducted with
the device transmitting at its highest power level in
all tested frequency bands. Since 1996, the FCC has
required that the SAR of handheld wireless devices
not exceed 1.6 watts per kilogram, averaged over
one gram of tissue. Although the SAR is determined
at the highest power level, the actual SAR value of a
wireless device while operating can be less than the
reported SAR value. This is because the SAR value
may vary from call to call, depending on factors such