If you’re reading this, you probably own a cell phone. And you’re also probably aware of the suspected risks—ones that have been touted by the City of San Francisco and the Council of Europe among others. Finally, you’re probably also aware that as recently as June 2012, the FCC said it was “confident” that the “emissions guidelines for devices pose no risks to consumers.”
Despite all of that (and some of the dubious science on cell phone radiation and electrosensitivity), Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) introduced a bill in Congress on Friday: H.R.6358. Its purpose: “To examine, label, and communicate adverse human biological effects associated with exposure to electromagnetic fields from cell phones and other wireless devices, and for other purposes.”
While the text of the bill has not yet been made available, Kucinich said in a statement that the bill, if passed, would also “create a new national research program to study cell phones and health and require the Environmental Protection Agency to update the outdated Specific Absorption Rate (SAR).”
Cell phone radiation is due to come up in the news again, as a San Francisco appeals court is expected to consider the city’s local right-to-know ordinance. Meanwhile, Congress is expected to ask the Government Accountability Office to update its cell phone-safety regulations as soon as this week. Those haven’t been modified since 1996.
New labels required by the Kucinich bill would mandate disclosure of RF radiation emissions levels, legal limits, and mandatory goals for safe exposure.
“It took decades for scientists to be able to say for sure that smoking caused cancer. During those decades, the false impression created by industry supporters was that there was no connection between smoking and cancer, a deception which cost many lives. While we wait for scientists to sort out the health effects of cell phone radiation, we must allow consumers to have enough information to choose a phone with less radiation,” said Kucinich in a statement.
“As long as cell phone users may be at increased risk of cancer or reproductive problems, Americans must have the right to know the radiation levels of cell phones.”
UPDATE: A Kucinich staffer pointed us to a link of the full-text of the bill (PDF).