Concern about radiation from Fitbit trackers

[radiation]

Hi! I was considering buying a fitbit flex and I wanted to know the amount of radiation I was going to be exposed to.  I was wondering if when I turned off the automatic syncing, it would reduce the amount of radiation I was exposed to at all.  Or would the amount remain the same no matter what? 

Moderator edit: Updated title for clarity

[Rich_Laue]

@shotinfo when you brought this up with Fitbit, what did they say? 

[shotinfo]

Hi there @Rich_Laue ,

The only place I have raised this issue is on these boards. But I have been reading posts going back for some years now regarding this same issue. Fitbit staff always say - what a great idea! As if it were something new. And yes, we will look at putting that into our products. But they never do. And I have to wonder why? It doesn't seem to be a difficult feature and in fact, it is already in many of their competitor's products so it's concerning that it's still not in Fitbit?

[Rich_Laue]

@shotinfo so instead of asking Fitbit their reason, your asking the Fitbit users for why Fitbit does what they do? Sorry but Fitbit users are not the ones who make the final decision for Fitbit. 

I'll ask again, what does Fitbit say? 

[Nicnut]

You never gave the radiation output! You only said it was negligible. What are you trying to hide?

I'm going to purchase my own emf meter and find out for myself, since you do not want to post it.

[Rich_Laue]

FYI when addressing an individual @Nicnut it is customary to tag them, rather than mention them by "You". 

[Nicnut]

And YOU are who? I replied under their post, so that should be enough.

[Nicnut]

Since you commented on my post, why not answer the question?

[Rich_Laue]

What question do you want your fellow Fitbit user to answer? 

And why would a Fitbit user have any more knowledge than what you could easily find out. 

As for radiation. The best i can say is that it is so low that it is exempt from most of the Regulations. 

Oh and you really should put a '@' to properly tag a person so that they receive proper notification. 

[ersatz_too]

If you are wondering about the relative BT level emitted by your Fitbit, there are multiple Bluetooth Scanning apps available. Some of these will measure signal strengths. Keep in mind that these measurements are not laboratory-quality, rather they will give you a relative idea of the strength of various signals relative to each other. People often use the apps to find mislaid Fitbits. For those of you not familiar with RF signal strength measurements - the smaller the negative number, the stronger the signal is (e.g. -55 dBm is a stronger signal than -89 dBm).

Using the Android Bluetooth Scanner app, I laid the Fitbit next to my phone and measured the signal at -52 dBm. I live in an apartment building and there were 22 measurable BT signals, some quite strong, none of them coming from my other devices, since I powered every other electronic device off before measuring. Then, I wrapped the Fitbit in several layers of tinfoil, sealing the edges. The signal was too low to be measured. Then I unwrapped it again and the signal reappeared.

I admit that I was a bit worried about sleeping with my Fitbit. In my sleep, I curl into a fetal position with my hands under my head, and so the Fitbit stays by my head all night. I tried making a tinfoil and duct tape bracelet to go around the Fitbit, and sure enough, the BT app could no longer measure the Fitbit BT signal on my wrist. But, sleeping with a foil and duct tape bracelet was very irritating to my skin. Since the BT app showed that there were many BT devices all around me operating at high levels, now I just turn off the phone so the Fitbit does not try to sync.

[Nicnut]

Thanks for the positive feedback and research. Unlike @Rich_Laue. How about that tag? If you dont have anything positive to say, keep your thoughts to yourself. You haven't learned that yet?

[Nicnut]

You don't start a sentence with and. Also, you need to put a question mark at the end of a question. Police yourself, before you correct someone else. @Rich_Laue.

[Rich_Laue]

When someone insists on me giving them an answer, i might fist do it even though they already knew that as a user i was unable to give an adequate answer.. 

Considering that the cell phone that is in your hand or pocket puts out way more radiation then your fit i and people don't seem to care about this radiation. 

The radiation from phones are tightly monitored because of its streangth, the fitbit has such a low radiation that it is exempt from many of the tests that a phone is required to pass. 

[Shangko]

Your guess of Power Class 2 should be correct. Power class 3 only communicates up to 10 cm, and my Fitbit definitely go further than that. Based on what I have read, class 2 only goes up to 2.5 mW (instead of 10), though. So, that is a good news.

I would also guess that non-smart-watch Fitbit models won't transmit anything unless being commanded by the master BT device (such as your phone when your FitBit app is running). It seems that this is how BT works anyway, based on what I have read. There is no reason for the slave (Fitbit) to send anything unless the master tells it to. 

(If our guess is correct, wish someone can confirm it): For non-smart-watch models, all of BT transmission from the fitbit occurs only when the app is syncing. So, if anyone has concerns about the supposedly negligible amount of radiation, you can take the fitbit off your wrist when you open the app. That should address all such concerns.

[Fudgecake]

Shangko, you're the first person who's written anything useful on this for years! I agree with all your points and I also agree that it would be very nice to get this confirmed by Fitbit - which is all I was ever trying to do - but they don't seem to want to get involved.

[full-stomp]

I've often wondered this. If the fitbit only transmits when requested.. or is it always sensing out beacons?

[MaryLL]

Rich,

This reply is not about radiation but your posting caught my attention. I have Paradoxymal Afib, but have had no episodes in 5 years. I began wearing a Fitbit last Friday. In 24 hours, from Sunday through Monday, I had three intense Afib episodes requiring hospitalizations. They were atypical to my past symptomology.

I reviewed my patterns to find a trigger. The only difference was I was wearing my Fitbit. I took it off after last episode and have had no more Afib.

I ha e had numerous heart procedures: 3 ablations, 30+ cardioversions, a mini-maze, as well as a heart attack. 

Does it make sense to you that the Fitbit could have negatively impacted my already compromised and complicated heart's electrical system?

Thank you for considering.

MaryLl

[Nicnut]

Oh wow! Thanks for the info.

[MaryLL]

No proof per se. But coincidental. Will see what happens now but I will not wear it again.

[Wincats]

I don't care what they say, I only wear my fitbit in the daytime and I have a very sore and burning forearm which has been present for 3 days now and does not seem to be improving. Can hardly bear to touch it. Obviously I am not wearing the fitbit right now. Can I hear from some more people about this?  Thanks.

[Nicnut]

Which Fitbit are you wearing?