Is RFID harmful to human health? Can the human body keep itself safe from Radio Frequency Signals from an RFID system nearby? It has been a burning question for many whether RFID is safe for humans and pets alike. After all, RFID technology uses electromagnetic fields or say radio frequency signals to transmit information.
Over the last decade, RFID technology has proliferated with implementation in various businesses including retail, apparel, healthcare, supply chain, and manufacturing. The use of RFID tags to accurately identify and track items has become so common that it might replace barcoding for good. What is the reason behind this you might ask? There are many reasons that RFID technology is being adopted by various businesses in distinct market verticals, the foremost being rapid advancement in RFID technology and the declining cost of RFID labels, readers, and antennas with growing demand.
RFID technology, apart from being used in tracking packages and shipments, is being used for tracking cattle, pets, and individuals as well and this begs the question of whether RFID is safe for human health.
Let’s see how this technology works and whether it is safe for our health to get exposed to radiofrequency radiation from an RFID system.
RFID technology and Radio Frequency Waves
Previously, people were afraid of getting an X-ray done and rightly so. X-rays are high energy, short wavelength rays that can be used in radiology but prolonged exposure to X-rays can cause tissue damage in the skin, reddening, and even cancer. However, the risk is quite small.
Since Radio Frequency Identification Technology also uses radio frequency signals in the low frequency (125-134 kHz), HF (13.56 MHz), and UHF (860-960 MHz), it is natural for people to be cautious.
However, we must check if RFID radio waves are harmful to our health or not.
Is Radio Frequencies from an RFID System Harmful to Human Health?
As per research done by D. Arumugam on SAR in muscle tissues for UHF RFID Systems, the SAR (Specific Absorption Rate) value of an RFID Reader is around 3.652W/kg, which is significantly higher than the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) safety limit for mobile devices, set at 1.6W/kg, meaning an RFID reader can potentially expose users to more than double the considered safe level of radiofrequency energy absorption in muscle tissues (human head and shoulders here).
Therefore, it is necessary that in high-exposure settings where multiple RFID Readers are deployed and reading is done for long, the worker should be at least .5m (50cm) away from the reader. The eyes being the most sensitive are easily affected due to long exposure. The study warns against long exposure only. If you are using an RFID reader only for a few hours, the risk is negligible.
The same goes for pets as well. Animals such as dogs, cats, and cattle are also affected by RFID reader signals if they are exposed to the same for a longer period. Simply tagging cattle with UHF RFID tags (Read RFID based animal tracking) is not harmful since RFID based tracking of animals is quite popular and many cattle ranches across the USA and other areas are doing the same.
Radio Frequency Chip Implants: Are RFID Chip Implants Risky?
RFID Chip implants are also quite popular with people and animals. People are getting RFID chip implants for many reasons including access control and identification, pass, etc. RFID chips are used in animals for tracking and identification purposes. People are tagging their pets with RFID chips and NFC chips to ensure that they are not lost and when that happens, people can scan the RFID chip and contact the owner as these chips are encoded with relevant data to contact the owners of these pets.
Now, are RFID chips risky? Well, RFID chips are implanted under the skin. If not done right, there might be some risk related to clotting and infection but there is no risk due to radio frequency signals per se.
To summarize, RFID technology is witnessing rapid adoption in industrial and personal applications. It can be used for tracking retail items, managing inventory and inventory audits, stocks, as well as tracking consignments leaving the warehouses. RFID is also used in toll collection parking management and vehicle tracking. With rapid adoption, there is a natural concern among people about whether RFID is safe for humans and animals alike. In that regard, various studies suggest that RFID radiation is not harmful for short-term use and might be harmful only when the user is exposed for a longer period due to its high SAR value, nearly double the SAR value of a smartphone.
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