Late Tuesday, San Francisco passed its proposed cell phone radiation law. The law requires retailers to display the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) (in 11-point font or larger), next to phones they sell.
The move, the city says, is not designed to discourage cell phone use, but rather to provide those already interested in SAR levels an easier way to find them. The SAR level of a cell phone is, according to the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), "a way of measuring the quantity of radio frequency (RF) energy that is absorbed by the body."
In the U.S. and Canada, the SAR must be 1.6 watts per kg or less. In Europe, the maximum level is 2.0 kw per kg or less.
C|Net has long offered an SAR table at its site. The table is updated on a regular basis; it was last updated on May 6, 2010.
Here are a few SAR ratings for some recently released phones:
- Google Nexus One: 0.867
- iPhone 3GS: 0.79
- HTC Droid Incredible: 1.4
- Motorola Droid 1.49
- Motorola Cliq XT 1.36
The World Health Organization's (WHO) recently released, decade-long study on cell phone radiation proved inconclusive.
San Francisco isn't the first to look at such regulations. Earlier in June, the California Senate rejected an even wider cell phone radiation labeling bill. A bill in Maine that would have required warning labels on cellphones, much like those on cigarette packs, was defeated in March.
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