Just wondering if anyone on this forum is concerned or even aware of the damaging EMF radiation from the Bluetooth transmissions that are present in today's hearing aids. Hearing aids are worn directly next to the brain for 15+ hours a day. Any EMF radiation would be a health concern. Based on what I have read, levels <1mW/M2 is considered safe in general. But that close to the brain constantly could still be a concern. Many health advocates are raising concerns over the 5G radiation building up today and from cell phone use, but I have not heard anyone talking about it from Hearing aids.
I had my Oticon OPN miniRite for many years and have measured the level of radiation using my ENV meter and found the radiation to be ~40mW/M2 when Bluetooth is on. Before it was on, the background EMF level was about 0.13mW/M2. Here is a graph of the measurement:
So I have gone into the habit of turning BT off when I am not using it to communicate with the phone. It is a simple long push on the right side button to turn it off or back on. Now with the new models of hearing aids coming out, I have been on trial to see if they can improve my hearing, especially in better understanding speech.
The first one I tried was through Hear.com. They got me to try one from Horizon. This hearing aid started with about 2mW/M2 when first turned on. But at the 3 minute mark, it started to blast at 486mW/M2 constantly and CANNOT be turned off. Even disabling the connection to the phone did not turn off this radiation out of the hearing aids contrary to what the audiologist thought. I immediately terminated the trail. Here is the measurement chart:
I went back to my original audiologist and she got me to try the Oticon Real. The Oticon do allow Bluetooth to be turned off and the radiation level goes back to close to background levels. But the radiation level when it is on is now 300mW/M2 instead of the 40mW/M2 as in the OPN. Here is the measurement chart:
But after multiple adjustments, I was disappointed that it sounded very tinny and gave no improvement to my understanding of speech. I returned it and started trial with the Phonak Audeo Lumity since a friend had great success with it.
The Phonak also supports turning BT off, but it involves turning each hearing aid off independently by pressing the button for 5 seconds and then turning it back on by holding the button for 7 seconds. So it is a hassle to go through this process when a phone call comes in to turn on BT and then off after. Also, the Phonak communicates between left and right through the BT. So when BT is off, you loose a lot of the functionality like volume control and program control since you have to control the left and right separately. This was not the case for Oticon. The Phonak also radiates at multiple levels of radiation power. Once turned on with BT, it hovers at 219mw/M2. But when any app is open, like YouTube or the Phone app, It bumps up to 310-326mw/M2. The kicker is when you start to stream a YouTube video or engage in a phone call, the level jumps to 538-565mW/M2, the highest of all 3 brands.. Here is my measurement chart:
I find the Phonak to have a more fuller sound, but I still have the same issue with understanding speech, especially in a noisy environment. Even with just 4 people around a table, I have trouble. I have tried the various programs for noisy environment and it was not much help. It is just not that big an improvement over my old OPN miniRites for the $6K+ cost. I still have another 2 weeks on the trial. But I will likely give up on it. I am hoping that DIY tuning can further improve my OPN miniRites over what the audiologist was able to do.
But back to the main topic, these new hearing aids are toasters for your brain. I love all the new features the Phonak has like double tap to answer a call, but they all require BT on constantly.
Thoughts anyone?
I had my Oticon OPN miniRite for many years and have measured the level of radiation using my ENV meter and found the radiation to be ~40mW/M2 when Bluetooth is on. Before it was on, the background EMF level was about 0.13mW/M2. Here is a graph of the measurement:
So I have gone into the habit of turning BT off when I am not using it to communicate with the phone. It is a simple long push on the right side button to turn it off or back on. Now with the new models of hearing aids coming out, I have been on trial to see if they can improve my hearing, especially in better understanding speech.
The first one I tried was through Hear.com. They got me to try one from Horizon. This hearing aid started with about 2mW/M2 when first turned on. But at the 3 minute mark, it started to blast at 486mW/M2 constantly and CANNOT be turned off. Even disabling the connection to the phone did not turn off this radiation out of the hearing aids contrary to what the audiologist thought. I immediately terminated the trail. Here is the measurement chart:
I went back to my original audiologist and she got me to try the Oticon Real. The Oticon do allow Bluetooth to be turned off and the radiation level goes back to close to background levels. But the radiation level when it is on is now 300mW/M2 instead of the 40mW/M2 as in the OPN. Here is the measurement chart:
But after multiple adjustments, I was disappointed that it sounded very tinny and gave no improvement to my understanding of speech. I returned it and started trial with the Phonak Audeo Lumity since a friend had great success with it.
The Phonak also supports turning BT off, but it involves turning each hearing aid off independently by pressing the button for 5 seconds and then turning it back on by holding the button for 7 seconds. So it is a hassle to go through this process when a phone call comes in to turn on BT and then off after. Also, the Phonak communicates between left and right through the BT. So when BT is off, you loose a lot of the functionality like volume control and program control since you have to control the left and right separately. This was not the case for Oticon. The Phonak also radiates at multiple levels of radiation power. Once turned on with BT, it hovers at 219mw/M2. But when any app is open, like YouTube or the Phone app, It bumps up to 310-326mw/M2. The kicker is when you start to stream a YouTube video or engage in a phone call, the level jumps to 538-565mW/M2, the highest of all 3 brands.. Here is my measurement chart:
I find the Phonak to have a more fuller sound, but I still have the same issue with understanding speech, especially in a noisy environment. Even with just 4 people around a table, I have trouble. I have tried the various programs for noisy environment and it was not much help. It is just not that big an improvement over my old OPN miniRites for the $6K+ cost. I still have another 2 weeks on the trial. But I will likely give up on it. I am hoping that DIY tuning can further improve my OPN miniRites over what the audiologist was able to do.
But back to the main topic, these new hearing aids are toasters for your brain. I love all the new features the Phonak has like double tap to answer a call, but they all require BT on constantly.
Thoughts anyone?
