Apple's new iPhone 7 will ditch the ubiquitous headphone jack, senior vice president of marketing Phil Schiller announced Wednesday at the company's keynote event in San Francisco.

Many tech writers are touting the positive implications of this seismic shift for cell phones: better sound quality, a thinner design and superior water resistance, to name a few.

But the new wireless AirPods (which will be available for purchase as a premium accessory) will effectively put radio transceivers in your ears, a decision that could impact your health.

"I think it's unfortunate, because Apple themselves acknowledges in their fine print -- often hidden -- that you need to keep cell phones ... away from the ear, and most people don't do that," says Dr. Anthony Miller, senior adviser to the Environmental Health Trust, an activist group that studies radiation and cell phone usage.

Most people talk on their cell phones while holding them directly in contact with their ear, and Apple does make warnings regarding radio frequency (RF) exposure available to consumers, but it's buried in the legal section of the company's website. You can also find it on your iOS by going to Settings -> General -> About -> Legal -> RF Exposure.

For the penultimate iPhone, the 6s, Apple recommends: "To reduce exposure to RF energy, use a hands-free option, such as the built in speakerphone, the supplied headphones or other similar accessories. Carry iPhone at least 5mm away from your body to ensure exposure levels remain at, or below, the as-tested levels."

While wireless headphones do, in effect, increase the distance between your cell phone and your head, they are in reality just replacing one radio-transmitting device with another. With all new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus purchases, Apple says it will include wired Lightning headphones, as well as an adapter for those consumers who wish to continue using their existing 3.5mm wired headphones. But for many users, necessitating this extra step will serve as a catalyst to make the switch to Bluetooth.

The RF of any wireless device -- a cell phone, Bluetooth headphones or a wireless router -- emits non-ionizing radiation. These devices aren't as dangerous as those that emit ionizing radiation, such as X-ray machines, but some experts remain wary of them nonetheless.

"The biggest problem we have is that we know most environmental factors take several decades of exposure before we really see the consequences," Dr. Keith Black, chairman of the neurosurgery department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, told CNN when the news broke.
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