Sacramento should take up cell phone safety

The cellular phone industry, wielding the threat of litigation, intimidated San Francisco into shelving a law that would have required point-of-sale disclosure of phones' radiation levels.

The industry had similarly pressured the Federal Communications Commission to back down from its recommendation that customers consider a unit's specific absorption rate (the rate at which the body absorbs radiofrequency energy from a phone) when making a purchase. But the concerns about the potential danger of cell phone radiation will not go away so easily. In fact, almost all manufacturers include advice for customers to limit their exposure to radiation in phone user guides. Suggestions include using a hands-free device, keeping the phone away from the body when turned on and not using cases with metal parts. Verizon even said customers concerned about "your own or your children's RF exposure" should be "limiting the length of calls" as one option. Perhaps it's best that the battle shift to Sacramento. All Californians deserve to know more about the potential dangers of the devices they are holding against their ears.