FCC to consider new rule: mobile phone should come with radiation warning label

Federal Communications Commission is being urged by a non-for-profit entity called the Environmental Health Trust (EHT) to "stop flip-flopping and acknowledge and publicize the risks of cell phone radiation." At the agenda is the need in proper regulation that would force cell phone makers to slap a warning label on their devices.

"In terms of awareness of microwave radiation risks from cell phones, the U.S. is far behind other countries, including Switzerland, Israel, France, and Germany," says EHT founder Devra Lee Davis, PhD, MPH. "These nations require cell phone makers to publicize radiation rates directly on phones sold to their citizens, provide special labeling for low radiation phones, and restrict their use by children, who are more vulnerable to radiation."

Radiation emitted by cell phones has been discussed for a long time to date. Earlier last year in the summer of 2010, CITA, a group representing mobile phone operators, sought to block an ordinance that requires retailers to post information about the Specific Absorption Rate for phones they sell. Prior to that, The Environment Working Group released a chart showing which mobile phones emit the most radiation.