Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2010/06/16/san_fran_radiation/

Radiation warning labels for deadly mobes!

San Francisco supervisors get all overheated

By Bill Ray

Posted in Personal Tech, 16th June 2010 12:08 GMT

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has passed an ordinance that will require warning labels on mobile phones, indicating their radiative output especially for the scientifically-illiterate and paranoid.

The ordinance, which was passed with an overwhelming majority (10 to 1), will require anyone selling phones within the city to provide information on the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) of all stocked handsets, once the Mayor signs it into legislation following a 10-day consultation period.

That information is already available on the FCC's site, but making it available in store will add weight to the idea that using a mobile phone is a health risk despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

The San Francisco Chronicle quotes the chief sponsor claiming that the ordinance is “about helping people make informed choices”, but more information isn't always helpful.

We might suggest that all mobile phones carry tags indicating the brightness of their LCD screens and propensity to interfere with sleep, or the expected injury inflicted if thrown, or even how much of a twat you'll look talking on one, but we're not democratically elected to represent the good people of San Francisco.

There's ten days to comment before the Mayor signs the legislation, so the public will have time to air any nuclear-strength views. ®