is it dangerous to charge your phone next to you in bed?

[ZeTeX]

Is it dangerous to charge your phone next to you in bed? can electromagnetic radiation from the charger itself can be bad for you? can radiation from your phone be bad for you?

[Ampera]

Is it dangerous to charge your phone next to you in bed? can electromagnetic radiation from the charger itself can be bad for you? can radiation from your phone be bad for you?

I'm not sure if you are kidding or not, but in the event not.

Chargers do not emit any harmful radiation or particulate that can harm you. You could sit next to one for 30 years non stop and have no real issues.

Phones do not emit any harmful radiation or particulate that can harm you. You could sit next to one for 30 years non stop and have no real issues.

Anyone who says otherwise is making shit up.

You can charge and use your phone next to your bed, at the kitchen table, in the living room, and anywhere else you want. The charging current coming out of the wire (not the wall) isn't even enough to
be sensed, and can't harm you either. Radiation from phones isn't a thing as there are no elements inside your phone that can produce that radiation and to my knowledge we can not produce ionizing radiation artificially without the use of any radioactive isotopes. Don't listen to me I have no clue what I am talking about. The rest is true.

So you are fine, do not worry at all about your phone.

EDIT:

So from the rest of the people here I have learned EM radiation is not limited to radio frequencies, and that through the right wavelengths and energy, they can be harmful.

2.4 Ghz or anything else your phone receives or picks up will never cause you any harm whatsoever.

Like any electrical competent, power surges can cause issues, but this would be the same concern for having a lamp in your room. A deskside or ceiling mount lamp could explode too, but it probably won't happen.

Charging a Liion based device is 99% of the time safe. I have charged those batteries as well as NIMH and Sealed Lead Acid (UPS) next to me for YEARS with never a problem. I even have a pre-recall bad battery Nvidia Shield tab (To be replaced soon) and it has never exploded. Of course if you sense hissing, a burning smell, a lot of heat form your phone, or anything of the sort you might want to chuck it
out the window. This is not to scare you. Liion/Lipo failures are RARE and as long as you have a PROPER charger that is charging and PROPER device, there are no worries. So don't go charging you cheap Chinese phone using your cheap Chinese charger next to your bed.

The long held myth that phones emitting EM radiation was probably a pretty cool idea from parents to stop their kids from tapping away at their phones.

[Ian.M]

The only significant danger is of it catching fire due to the rare combo of a faulty battery or charger and a faulty protection circuit.

[ZeTeX]

Is it dangerous to charge your phone next to you in bed? can electromagnetic radiation from the charger itself can be bad for you? can radiation from your phone be bad for you?

I'm not sure if you are kidding or not, but in the event not.

Chargers do not emit any harmful radiation or particulate that can harm you. You could sit next to one for 30 years non stop and have no real issues.

Phones do not emit any harmful radiation or particulate that can harm you. You could sit next to one for 30 years non stop and have no real issues.

Anyone who says otherwise is making shit up.

You can charge and use your phone next to your bed, at the kitchen table, in the living room, and anywhere else you want. The charging current coming out of the wire (not the wall) isn't even enough to
be sensed, and can't harm you either. Radiation from phones isn't a thing as there are no elements inside your phone that can produce that radiation and to my knowledge we can not produce ionizing radiation artificially without the use of any radioactive isotopes.

So you are fine, do not worry at all about your phone.

Thanks, the reason why I created this thread is because today in school my electronic teacher told this bullshit that it is dangerous to charge your phone next to you in bed because of radiation.
I knew this is bullshit instantly because I remember researching this a few years ago but he is electrical engineer and have many more "awards" so I don't want to argue with him.

[wraper]

Thanks, the reason why I created this thread is because today in school my electronic teacher told this bullshit that it is dangerous to charge your phone next to you in bed because of radiation.

Professor at uni showed us 0805 resistors and told us they cannot be soldered by hand. Smallest I have soldered by hand by this moment is 01005 which is like a piece of dust.
Or when he explained how LCD works, it was full of bullshit as well.

[Ian.M]

*ALWAYS* be suspicious of an expert pontificating outside their area of expertise!

Those that can, do
Those that can't, teach
And those that can't teach teach teachers.

For the rational sceptic's view of the 'popular' take on the original issue, see http://www.badscience.net/2007/05/electrosmog-the-independent-has-seriously-excelled-itself-this-time-2/

[ceoxrad]

to my knowledge we can not produce ionizing radiation artificially without the use of any radioactive isotopes.

We can, xray tubes works without any radioactive isotope.
They employ a stron electric field to accelerate a beam of eletrons which strikes against an anode, usually made of copper or tungsten.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray_tube
Also, UVC fluerescent tubes are widespread and used to sterilize water (and even erase eproms )

I only wanted to point out this, the rest of the answer is absolutely right

[mikeselectricstuff]

The only risk is fire, and if it is going to catch fire, it's probably better that it catches fire next to you and wakes you up before it spreads, than sets fire to the rest of the house and kills you with the smoke before you're  even aware of it.

[Red Squirrel]

I'd imagine that the RF generated by the charging is a FRACTION of the RF generated by the phone itself. Either way I would not be worried about that RF.   Think of people who live near transformers, I imagine that generates a decent amount of RF compared to a tiny charging circuit.  My parents have one in their yard so I grew up with one and turned out ok.  I think? 

The biggest risk as mentioned is fire, and that's rare as well.  I personally try to avoid charging lithium ion batteries unattended because of that.  Usually I just plug it near my computer.  I have a plug there, and one at work.  It stays on my bed side at night but fully charged. 

I'm actually looking forward to when the powerwall comes out to see how those fair out.  I expect there to be some issues, whether a real issue or user error.  That's a lot of lithium ion batteries in one place.  If they can manage to keep those fires contained within the box that will be a pretty good feat of engineering and if someone can do it I think it will be Tesla.

[IanB]

Radiation from phones isn't a thing as there are no elements inside your phone that can produce that radiation and to my knowledge we can not produce ionizing radiation artificially without the use of any radioactive isotopes.

Phones do of course emit electromagnetic radiation, at various power levels and on many frequencies. That is how they communicate with the outside world, using various cellphone communication bands, wireless network bands and Bluetooth.

There is no evidence that such radiation is harmful at the levels encountered, but absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. That said, most people are quite unconcerned by having phones or other wireless devices next to them.

[dannyf]

Is it dangerous to charge your phone next to you in bed?

yes.

and it is dangerous to simply lye in bed;

the most dangerous thing you can do is to live: now you have to die, with 100% certainty.

[tatus1969]

absence of evidence is not evidence of absence

Like that 

[Kleinstein]

A bed is quite a dangerous device - quite a lot of people die in a bed.

The electromagnetic radiation from a phone is usually considered not dangerous. The highest emissions are during use at a rather large distance to the base station. Just charging is a low emission mode.

The residual dangers are a slight fire hazard and if new emission of volatile chemicals (smells like new electronics). So maybe not the best idea when new. Most chargers are quite - a noisy one could be a problem.

[vodka]

A bed is quite a dangerous device - quite a lot of people die in a bed.

Certain , there are many people that by not use  an harness or barrier  die by falling the bed  while they sleeped 
 
An others died by trying to emulate the tiger's jump and they keep too short or they pass too

[helius]

The field strength around an operating phone isn't negligible, but with the sharp increase in usage globally you'd expect there to be data on any health effects. Those seem to be lacking.
I've certainly noticed an incipient headache if I make a call with the phone to my ear for more than 20 minutes. Whether this is from tissue heating, sub-audible vibrations, or biomagnetic effects I don't know. But I have a suspicion that it's caused by heating of the labyrinth of the inner ear causing a dizzying sensation. Anyone else experience this?

[SeanB]

Major danger is that you will use the phone all night, interrupting your sleep pattern. As well the blue light from the screen will severely disrupt your body clock, making you feel a very similar set of effects equivalent to jet lag all the time.

Best to charge the phone when you come home, and unplug it before going to bed, as this will have the best battery life. Most phones will charge in under 2 hours, so there is no inconvenience. In the morning a quick top up charge of a half our or less will be more than enough to get you through the morning commute.

[Ampera]

The field strength around an operating phone isn't negligible, but with the sharp increase in usage globally you'd expect there to be data on any health effects. Those seem to be lacking.
I've certainly noticed an incipient headache if I make a call with the phone to my ear for more than 20 minutes. Whether this is from tissue heating, sub-audible vibrations, or biomagnetic effects I don't know. But I have a suspicion that it's caused by heating of the labyrinth of the inner ear causing a dizzying sensation. Anyone else experience this?

It's probably because your putting something against your ear for 20 minutes straight. I know what you mean, but it takes longer than 20 minutes for me to get it.

[Ampera]

to my knowledge we can not produce ionizing radiation artificially without the use of any radioactive isotopes.

We can, xray tubes works without any radioactive isotope.
They employ a stron electric field to accelerate a beam of eletrons which strikes against an anode, usually made of copper or tungsten.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray_tube
Also, UVC fluerescent tubes are widespread and used to sterilize water (and even erase eproms )

I only wanted to point out this, the rest of the answer is absolutely right

Safe to say I am not a radiation expert. EM radiation is nothing harmful since it really doesn't do anything aside from induce a very small current in conductive objects. If you go high enough to cause any damage you have a tesla coil, not a transmitter.

[Maxlor]

I leave my phone in another room when I go to sleep, since I do consider dangerous to my sleep. It might emit noise or light, and I get grumpy about my sleep being disturbed without good reason.

[helius]

EM radiation is nothing harmful since it really doesn't do anything aside from induce a very small current in conductive objects. If you go high enough to cause any damage you have a tesla coil, not a transmitter.

Whew, what a relief knowing it's perfectly safe to put my dog in the microwave to dry off.

[Dave]

EM radiation is nothing harmful since it really doesn't do anything aside from induce a very small current in conductive objects. If you go high enough to cause any damage you have a tesla coil, not a transmitter.

Whew, what a relief knowing it's perfectly safe to put my dog in the microwave to dry off.

Just make sure your microwave is not actually a tesla coil in disguise.

[AG6QR]

If your bed has pillows and blankets, there is at least some danger of thermal issues, as the heat created by the charging process may have trouble escaping if the phone is heavily covered up by insulation.  The worst outcome might be a fire, but I would hope the phone's protection circuitry would kick in and stop things before it got to a dangerous situation.  Still, I prefer to charge my phone on a hard surface with no thermal insulation around, giving the phone a chance to stay cool.  Whether it's a safety issue or not, keeping circuitry reasonably cool can't be bad for its long-term health.

But I suspect that quite a few people go to bed with their phones charging.  With something as common as a cell phone, if there's a safety issue, it's unlikely you'll be the first one to run into it, even though someone must be first.  The fact that we don't hear of many burning beds caused by charging cell phones suggests that it's not likely to be a serious problem.

[Cyberdragon]

Frequencies below light can't cause direct cell mutation, has to be UV or above. The only harm they can cause are burns, if you can't feel the energy, you are 100% safe from radio waves below light. The heat you feel from a fire is IR radiation and that has a way higher energy level than any portable electronics and yet you don't get disease from it.

Yes, a large transmitter can cause serious radiation burns (Never stand in front of high power radar), but you won't get cancer from it.

[dannyf]

Frequencies below light can't cause direct cell mutation,

i'm sure your neighbors have quite a few microwave ovens for you to prove otherwise, with the cooperation of your hands.

[Red Squirrel]

Frequencies below light can't cause direct cell mutation,

i'm sure your neighbors have quite a few microwave ovens for you to prove otherwise, with the cooperation of your hands.

Yeah just because it's non ionizing does not mean it's not dangerous, at the right power even non ionizing radiation can be dangerous.  That said the power levels of phones and most radio equipment is not harmful.  You however don't want to shove your face inside a wave guide of a high power transmitter tube.