Are Smart Watches Safe for Kids?

Wearable Tech

Our technology is becoming more advanced than before. Now, we have wearable devices like a smartwatch or fitness trackers. These wearable wireless gadgets help us with communication and work. They provide us with daily communication with our loved ones and work.

Wearable technology made these devices an extension of your mobile phone. It has many features making them part of everyone’s life. It’s in contact with our body most of the time, there’s a potential risk from smartwatch radiation.

Public health is concerned about this, and if it can cause cancer to users. If the health standards of these wearable devices are reliable. In this article, we’re going to talk about the safety of smart watch especially for kids. Read on to learn more.

What’s In My Article?

Wearable devices – What are they?

smart watch

These wearable devices are worn by the user as part of their clothing. Smart watches and fitness trackers are two of the most popular wearables. These gadgets serve like extension of your mobile cell phones. They have many functions like alert notifications for calls and texts. Their health and activity tracking functions are also loved by the people.

Thanks to wearable technology, we are enjoying the benefits of these portable gadgets. But we cannot deny the fear of the people about the potential risk of these wireless gadgets.

But we’ll have to know the pros and cons of this issue. This helps everyone understand the severity of smartwatch radiation.

Radiation Exposure from Wearables

smartwatch radiation

Almost all electronic devices emit radiation. We are exposed to them constantly in our daily activities. These devices emitting electromagnetic radiation are smartwatches and fitness trackers. Your cell phone also emits certain levels of electromagnetic radiation. And that poses issues of health risk. These gadgets passed the FCC safety standards, so they are safe to use.

Whether you have a wearable OS or apple watch, it still emits small levels of emf radiation. That’s because these wearable devices use Bluetooth and WiFi connections. Issues about health problems from wearing these devices are a constant debate.

There are many levels of electromagnetic radiation. These includes radio waves, visible light, microwave, and Gamma rays. The shorter the wavelength (like for the gamma rays), the more dangerous it is for health. But we’ll have to find out if how detrimental are the waves emitted by smart watches.

What radiation do smart watch or fitness tracker emit?

These useful devices are in direct contact with our body. Even if they pass FCC standards, constant RF exposure is still bad. Your Apple watches or Android wearables emit radiation at a safe level. But if your body constantly gets exposed to this, that can lead to possible health concerns.

RF energy is low, but you need to avoid getting constant exposure to it. This emf radiation gets accumulated on your body. It can affect the brain and reproductive organs, which you don’t want, right?

Therefore, it’s safer for everyone not to sleep with their wearable device in contact with them. You need to put your cell phones away from your head and body when sleeping. This is for the greater good of your overall health.

Are they any supports for this concept?

smartwatches

Are there any studies supporting the claim that constant exposure to emf radiation can cause cancer? Based on a study conducted by the National Toxicology Program (NTP), they had groups of mice exposed to electromagnetic radiation. Their results showed that those mice were more prone to cancer due to prolonged exposure to radiation.

Another study done by the World Health Organization (WHO), stated that constant exposure to smartphones is possibly carcinogenic. That’s because of direct contact and constant radiation exposure.

This health risk is more alarming to children. That’s why you need to reduce your child’s exposure to smartphones and other wearable devices that emit emf radiation.

What recent researches say about these health concerns from smart watches and fitness trackers?

cell phone radiation and smart watches

Can radiation increases cancer risk? This is one common question asked by the community about the smartwatch or fitness tracker. Is having a wearable device safe for children and adults? We understand that everyone is concerned if it’s still safe to wear these gadgets.

There have been many studies conducted to answer the question, “Are smart watches safe?” So far, there has been no definite answer yet for this question. But they have cited short and long term health risks from using smartwatches and fitness trackers.

The health benefits of these devices outweigh more than their perceived threat. That’s why people are continuing to use smart watch or Apple watch.

The World Health Organization (WHO) tells that potential risks of a smartwatch and fitness tracker depend on their radiation levels. Smartphones emit radiation as well, but both of them are within radio frequency levels. This frequency is at low energy levels, therefore, there is not enough energy to cause serious health problems.

For the question, “Can smartwatch cause cancer?”, there closest answer to that is “No” since it only emits non ionizing radiation. Inside the electromagnetic spectrum, this is within tolerable levels for our body. Radiofrequency energy is not that strong to cause DNA mutations, only Gamma ray can do it.

All smart watches are made to pass FCC standards. That means, these smart devices are safe to use. There is no scientific evidence that strongly tells it does severe harmful biological effects.

What are the health effects of Smart Watches?

safety concerns

The birth of smart watch and fitness trackers captured the hearts of many people. But the debate continues if these smart watches are safe to use. So far, there has been no solid research yet to settle this issue.

The EMF radiation of this useful device cannot be discounted. But that doesn’t mean it is a waste to have these wearables. The chance that these things are possibly carcinogenic is still undefined. But you will know that constant exposure is the reason why it happens.

That tells you, that these wearables are useful, you just need to avoid wearing them while sleeping. Health issues are present, not just for smart watches, but for all kinds of devices. RF radiation is almost found on any device. Your smartphones are also considered dangerous to health because it also emits radiation.

The radiofrequency energy emitted by these devices is just low. However, constant exposure will lead to the accumulation of these emf waves. That’s what they are referring to as dangerous for these electronic devices.

So the question, “Are smart watches safe to wear?” seems irrelevant knowing there are conditions to be observed. What if you’re not using a smart watch but you have a smartphone, does that make you safer than anyone? The important thing there is that you don’t keep near contact with your device always.

When you’re off to bed, put your electronic devices away from your body. Let your body relax and recover from all radiation exposure.

Is Data Transfer Safe Between Smart Watch and Phone?

smart watch and smartphone

Aside from the issue of adverse health effects, privacy concerns are also present in smartwatches. Users ask companies linked to smartwatch production if smartwatches safe to wear. If there is a chance of a privacy breach since information is not encrypted when it’s transferred from your smartwatch to your mobile phone over wireless connections.

That’s because mobile phones are prone to hacking, so customers are concerned as well if that happens to smartwatch or fitness tracker. The answer is no, why? Because there are no sensitive data transferred from your wearable to your mobile phones. The referring traffic requires no encryption.

Your location might be important information, but it’s not as valuable as your bank details. That’s why security features of smartwatches and fitness trackers are not a big issue, unless, it allows you to make payments online.

So far, there has been no significant privacy breach happening to this wearable device. This is true even when most fitness trackers and smartwatches don’t have encrypted communication via wireless connections.

What can you do about these health issues with wearable devices?

Smartwatch safe to wear

The electro magnetic frequency of these wearable devices is just low. RF radiation is safe, yet it would be safer if you don’t expose yourself too much to it. Prolonged EMF exposure is not good for overall health. This is not just for smartphones and smartwatches, but for all electronic devices.

The radiation emitted from these devices can hurt our cells over time. Radiation come from various devices like your laptop, desktops, phones, kitchen appliances, and more. Wearable gadgets have direct contact with your body. To minimize your exposure, you must remove that when you’re sleeping. That way, you are giving sufficient time for your body to recover from radiation exposure. This reduces health risks and the possibility of any serious disease.

Can Smartwatch Radiation Cause Mood Swings?

mood swings

EMF radiation is known to impact our mental health. When you get too much exposure, it can cause headaches and mood swings. There are no reports yet telling that smartwatch radiation contributes much to this effect. But it does contribute radiation to your body. To reduce your exposure, you must not sleep with your wearable device.

Mood swings happen when there is unbalance in your brain chemicals. Radiation is one factor that can make that happen. Are there reports that smartwatches greatly contribute to this? The short answer is no. There’s still continued research about it, yet none claimed that these wearables are harmful to the body.

The radiation levels from wearables are just low than other appliances. Compared to microwaves and appliances, the former produces higher emf radiation levels. Getting an X-ray is even more dangerous than the radio frequency emitted by your smartwatch and fitness tracker.

Takeaways

blood pressure

Is it safe to use smartwatches and fitness trackers? The answer is yes. How can you minimize the risk of radiation from these wearables? You must not sleep with them overnight. These electronic wearables provide smart assistance in our daily activities. It makes our lives more efficient and convenient.

They provide many benefits in our daily life. Firstly, they are an extension of our smartphones. Some wearables allow us to answer calls or messages from our smartwatches. We get notifications from our wearables from their health and activity tracking functions.

We can even set alarms and schedules using our wearable OS and Apple watches. Some latest devices even allow third party apps to work in their system. This includes streaming music and GPS location.

Now, you already know the health issues and benefits of smartwatches and fitness trackers. Do you think it is safe to wear? The answer depends on you. By balancing your activities, you can always make the most out of things, right?

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