Cell phone manufacturers opposed

Cell phone manufacturers opposed SAR disclosure (Lin 2000) until 2000, when the FCC began posting cell phone SAR values on its web site. After the FCC decision, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) began requiring manufacturers to disclose cell phone SARs.

According to CTIA guidelines, a mobile phone SAR value must be listed in the user manual or on a separate sheet. The trade association does not require listing the SAR value on the box or the phone itself (Microwave News 2000).

Cell phone radiation levels are rarely available at retail locations. Consequently, consumers cannot easily identify low-radiation phones.

FCC maintains a database of mobile phone SAR values for devices currently on the market, but it is difficult to use. With significant effort, a consumer can navigate the FCC website to find the SAR value for a specific phone.

To search the FCC database, the consumer needs the mobile phone’s FCC ID number, located on a sticker underneath the phone’s battery. The first three characters of the FCC ID is the Grantee Code; the remaining numbers and letters of the ID are a product code that can be entered into the online FCC ID Search Form (http://www.fcc.gov/oet/ea/fccid), to pull up five to seven data entries. Consumers must scroll manually through each of the data entries to locate the document that lists the SAR value for the specific mobile phone.

In contrast to this cumbersome process, the German Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) maintains a detailed, open directory of information on mobile phones available in the German market (BfS 2008b). Such a publicly available database greatly facilitates consumers’ access to SAR data, enables informed purchasing decisions and encourages phone manufacturers to offer lower-SAR phones.
Recommendations

The U.S. government should require phones to be labeled with their radiation emissions at the point of sale, so consumers can make informed decisions about the phones they buy.

The cell phone industry should offer consumers phones that operate with the least possible radiation, and should make each phone’s radiation emissions available at the point of sale.

Cell phone users can protect themselves and their families by buying low-radiation phones. Look for currently available low-radiation options in the EWG’s cell phone radiation buyer’s search tool that lists radiation output of more than 1,000 cell phones.

Cell phone users can also reduce exposures by using their phone in speaker mode or with a headset.

And please help us tell the government to update its cell phone standards.