Berkeley Tells Cell Phone Providers To Warn Customers Of Health Risks

"Few people know that there are federal safety limits for exposure to the weak radiation emitted by cellphones and other wireless devices. There often is language about this embedded right in our phones, but finding it requires knowing where to look, wading through several steps and then making sense of the technical jargon.

Concerned about the lack of public awareness, Berkeley, California passed a law in 2015 calling for cellphone stores to post warning signs. The signs caution that if you carry a phone in a pocket or tucked into a bra when the device is on, “you may exceed the federal guidelines for exposure’’ to radio-frequency radiation.

That advisory is intended to sum up the information the Federal Communications Commission requires cellphone manufacturers to disclose in phones, owner manuals or packaging material, and it’s milder than warnings given by such organizations as the American Academy of Pediatrics. But eager to squelch its aversion to unfavorable information, the wireless industry — led by the trade group CTIA —has waged a high-powered legal battle to take down the signs. In court filings, CTIA has called the advisory “inflammatory” and has argued that the Berkeley law violates retailers' First Amendment rights by compelling them to disclose misleading information."

Lynne Peeples reports for FairWarning.org July 11, 2018.

https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article214422049....

Source: McClatchy, 07/11/2018