Retailers in San Francisco will soon be required to display signs about the amount of radiation emitted by mobile phone handsets, or face a $300 fine. The law is expected to be signed off by Mayor Gavin Newsom, who has publicly endorsed the measure.
Shoppers in the City will have to be given information on the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) of each make and model, and explanations of what SAR is as well as where further information can be obtained.
The move is the first of its kind in the US, despite studies from the mobile phone industry, which have shown that mobile phone radiation is not harmful to people. Two similar ‘Right to Know’ bills in California and Maine were successfully defeated after heavy lobbying by the mobile phone industry.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has set out limits of safe exposure to radiation levels by people using mobile phones, following advice from Government agencies and scientific bodies in the EU and Israel. It says the safe limit is “1.6 watts per kg for special (local) SAR, such as SAR in the user’s head, as averaged over any 1 gram of tissue”. It says consumers should be able to make informed purchasing decisions when making choices between different handsets, as well as advice on how to reduce exposure levels to radiation.
At present there is inconclusive evidence as to whether mobile phone radiation causes cancer or brain tumours. The law is expected to take effect in San Francisco later this year.
