Why use of mobile is restricted in petrol pump?
If there happened to be a piece of metal nearby of a length that would resonate at the transmitter’s frequency it could pick up the signal. If the signal was sufficiently strong and there was a gap across which a resulting spark could jump, gasoline vapors could be ignited. Practically speaking, the power of cell phones would not likely be great enough to cause an explosion by induction to nearby conductors. The phone’s circuit itself is probably “intrinsically safe,” meaning that there is no power at any point inside the phone great enough to cause a spark therein. (I say probably, because I am just guessing based on the incentive of a cell phone maker to not cause such disasters when there will be possibly be millions in the hands of the general population not known for their good sense.) I know for sure that pagers are intrinsically safe, because they are so labelled, but then they have no transmitters. Two-way radios have a lot more power and should not be used around flammable sub
The TV show MythBusters discredited the theory of mobile phones igniting the petrol vapors. In reality they concluded that the petrol pump fires are associated with static electricity from people that get in and out of the car while filling up. They found that women are nearly 10 times more likely to get in and out while waiting. Their research also found that older people who get in and back out generally grab the door frame, thus grounding themselves. As it turns out, younger women are more likely to be involved with petrol pump fires that any other group. Below is a link to snopes.com that provides similar details.
