While many people would have thought buying a device which is twice the price of similar technology on the market is a sign of a brain failing to work properly, a team of US boffins thinks some of the problems might extend to the wireless headphones Apple is pushing.

Dr Joel Moskowitz of the University of California Berkely said that AirPods communicate with one another using a magnetic induction field, a variable magnetic field one sends through your brain to communicate with the other.

He is worried that while Apple heavily markets AirPods, no one has done any research on the health effects of using them.

He said he couldn’t imagine that the health aspects would be much good for users.

Moskowitz’s concerns are part of a broader worry from the scientific community about the spread of wireless technologies.

A petition warning that microwave radiation from many popular wireless technologies may pose health risks has gathered 250 signatures. The petitioners stop short of naming Bluetooth or any particular products, the technology does use radiofrequency radiation, and AirPods in particular also uses an electromagnetic field.

While there is no proof that devices can cause cancer, the technology is advancing faster than health authorities, scientists, and doctors can test it. For example, radio waves from Bluetooth AirPods and similar devices may be carcinogenic, and yet wireless technology has minimal regulations.

Last year, Apple sold 28 million pairs of its white wireless earbuds. The year before, they sold 16 million pairs.

The design killed off wired headphones which were marginally safer. Of course, safety was never considered by the Tame Apple Press which heralded Apple’s “brave” move.

Very little research has been conducted on Bluetooth itself, but the proximity of AirPods to the brain makes them particularly concerning.

"Since Bluetooth tends to be low-intensity it could open the blood-brain barrier, which evolved to keep large molecules out of the brain",explained Dr Moskowitz.

The concern here is that it causes "probably more neurological disorders and diseases as opposed to cancer".