Top 10 lowest radiation emitting cell phones (i.e. least cancer risk)

Earlier this week, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a report on the "possible" carcinogenic effects of cell phones, thereby triggering interest about which cell phones emit the least radiation.

Cell phones emit radio waves, called radiofrequency (RF), which is a form of radiation. The phones themselves aren't necessarily harmful. It's the radiation emitted by the phones that's harmful and more importantly, the amount of radiation that your body absorbs. Specific absorption rate (SAR) is the name given to the rate of radiofrequency energy your body gets from continuous phone usage. The lower the number, the lower the radiation exposure.

However, besides SAR, many other factors can affect the amount of RF waves to which a person is exposed.

American Cancer Society gives specific examples about other causes:

- The amount of time the person is on the phone
- The model of phone being used: different phones give off different amounts of energy
- Whether or not the person is using a hands-free device
- The distance and path to the nearest cell phone tower: being farther away from the tower requires more energy to get a good signal, as does being inside a building
- The amount of cell phone traffic in the area at the time

Other factors may include the distance from the phone to your body. The closer the antenna is to the head, the greater a person's expected exposure to RF energy. Older cell phones, especially analog phones, use more energy than newer digital models.

While there is no decisive evidence that a phone with a higher SAR level poses a greater health risk, consumers are now checking SAR levels before purchasing a new phone in order to reduce radiation exposures.

The Environmental Working Group has compiled a list of major cell phones which measure the SAR levels based on phone manufacturers data from December 2010.

Click on the slideshow to check out the top 10 lowest radiation emitting cell phone models:

 Note that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires all cell phone makers to report the SAR level of their products and its maximum SAR level must be less than 1.6 watts per kilogram (W/kg).

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Tied with Motorola i890, Samsung SGH-T249 is ranked as the 10th least radiation emitting cell phone.

Spec Data
Compact slider phone for voice communication as well as text and instant messaging
Compatible with T-Mobile's EDGE data network; access to text/picture messaging
1.3-megapixel camera; Bluetooth stereo music; microSD memory expansion; personal organizer tools
Up to 4.5 hours of talk time, up to 312 hours (13 days) of standby time; released in October, 2010

Tied with Samsung SGH-T249, Motorola i890 is ranked as the 10th least radiation emitting cell phone.

Spec Data
Talk Time: Up to 3 hours
Bands/Modes: 800/900 MHz iDEN
Weight: 4.2 ounces/119 grams
Dimensions: 3.9 inches x 1.98 inches by 0.66 inches/99 mm x 50.3 mm x 16.8 mm
Battery: Standard:1130 mAh lithium ion; Extended: 1750 mAh lithium ion
Connectivity: Stereo Bluetooth®4 2.1 (A2DP, HSP, HFP), USB 2.0
Display: 2.2-inch QVGA, 240 x 320, 65K, 16-bit TFT (internal) 1.8-inch, 128 x 160, 65K, 16-bit TFT (external)
Messaging: MMS, Unified Inbox, Smart Client
Audio: MIDI, WAV, MP3, AAC, ACC+, WMA, AU, REAL, Audio, AMR, iMelody
Video: Max (240 X 320); Med (176 x 144); Min (128 x 96)
Camera: 2 Megapixel Fixed Focus, 4x digital zoom
Memory: 180MB of available user space
Location Services: GPS-enabled
Antenna: Internal

Spec Data
3G-enabled quick messaging phone with 2.8-inch customizable touchscreen display and side-sliding QWERTY keyboard
Compatible with T-Mobile's 3G network for fast downloads as well as quick uploads of photo and video to sharing sites
2.0-megapixel camera/camcorder; Bluetooth stereo music; microSD memory expansion to 16 GB; organizer tools; personal and work e-mail
Up to 6 hours of talk time, up to 384 hours (16 days) of standby time; released in July, 2010

Spec Data
Screen Size: 2 inches
Screen Details: 96-by-96-pixel, passive matrix external LCD; 128-by-160-pixel, 65K color main TFT LCD
Camera: Yes
Megapixels: 0.3 MP
Camera Flash: No
802.11x: No
Bluetooth: Yes
Web Browser: Yes
Form Factor: Flip Phone
Network: CDMA
Bands: 850, 1900, 1700
High-Speed Data: 1xRTT
Storage Capacity (as Tested): 50 MB
Keyboard: No
Continuous Talk Time: 3 hours 44 minutes

Spec Data
Modes: GSM 850 / 1900
Weight: 2.7 oz (77 g)
Dimensions: 3.78" x 1.85" x 0.75" (96 x 47 x 19 mm)
Form Factor: Clamshell, Internal Antenna
Battery: Talk: 6 hours max. (360 minutes), Standby: 300 hours max. (12.5 days), 800 mAh LiIon
Display: Type: LCD (Color TFT/TFD)
Resolution: 128 x 160 pixels, 2" diagonal
Platform / OS: (proprietary)
Memory: 1 MB (internal memory available to user for storage)
Phone Book Capacity: 200 plus SIM card memory

Spec Data
Network: HSUPA 900/1900/2100, EDGE/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900. Samsung Android 2.1 (Eclair). Android Samsung UI (Multiple Homescreens). Processor: 1GHz CPU Speed. Dimension: 64.2 X 122.4 X 9.9 mm (119g)
Memory: MicroSD(Up to 32GB). Android Browser: Flash Lite3.1. Display: 4.0? WVGA(480x800) 16M SUPER AMOLED, mDNIe(Mobile Digital Natural Image engine). Multi-touch zoom. Light sensor, Accelerometer sensor, Proximity Sensor, Digital Compass.
Camera: 5.0 Megapixel AF camera, Self Shot, Action Shot, Add me, Cartoon Shot, Smile Shot. Video: HD Video Player & Recorder (1280 x 720) @ 30fps codec: DivX, XviD, MPEG4, H.263, H.264, WMV, VC-1 format: 3gp(mp4), AVI(divx), MKV, FLV, H.263Sorenson
Music: Music Player with SoundAlive. 3.5mm Ear Jack. MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC+/OGG/WMA/AMR-NB/AMR-WB/WAV/MID/AC3/IMY/FLAC/XMF

Spec Data
3G-enabled, Android 2.1-powered smartphone with 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen display and 16 GB pre-loaded microSD card (plus 2 GB internal memory)
Google mobile services; VZ Navigator and Bing Maps for directions; can be used as a 3G Mobile Hotspot for up to five Wi-Fi connected devices
5-megapixel camera; 720p HD video recording; Wireless-N Wi-Fi networking; Bluetooth 3.0 connectivity; Swype keyboard
Up to 7 hours of talk time, up to 312 hours (13 days) of standby time; released in August, 2010

Spec Data
Kid-friendly clamshell phone in shiny pink for use with Kajeet pay-as-you-go service
Pay for just the minutes you use or choose monthly talk/text plans; optional GPS locator service
VGA camera, handsfree communication via speakerphone and Bluetooth, voice dialing capabilities, personal organizer tools
Up to 3.5 hours of talk time
Daily Access Charge applies only to pay as you go plans

Spec Data
Sleek 3G-enabled flip phone with three Quick Call keys for most frequent callers
Compatible with AT&T Video Share, AT&T Mobile Music, and AT&T Navigator GPS turn-by-turn directions
1.3-megapixel camera/camcorder; microSD memory expansion (to 32 GB); Bluetooth stereo music; access to personal e-mail
Up to 3 hours of talk time, up to 240 hours (10 days) of standby time

Spec Data
Modes CDMA 850 / 1900
Weight 4.48 oz (127 g)
Dimensions 4.06" x 1.97" x 0.78" (103 x 50 x 19.9 mm)
Form Factor Clamshell
with twisting display
Internal Antenna
Battery Talk: 3.8 hours max. (230 minutes)
Standby: 540 hours max. (22.5 days)
920 mAh LiIon
Display Type: LCD (Color TFT/TFD)
Resolution: 240 x 320 pixels (QVGA)
2.3" diagonal
Colors: 65,536 (16-bit)
Platform / OS (proprietary)
Phone Book Capacity 500

Spec Data
3G-enabled Windows Phone 7 smartphone with 3.5-inch touchscreen and slide-out full QWERTY keyboard
Windows Phone 7 OS provides easy access to social networking, personal/corporate e-mail, office apps, Xbox LIVE games, streaming media, and more
5-megapixel camera with HD 720p video capture;16 GB internal memory;Wi-Fi networking;Bluetooth stereo music; GPS for navigation and location services
Up to 6 hours of talk time, up to 350 hours (14.5 days) of standby time; released in November, 2010