Sensationalistic Headline Ahead: Maine Wants Cell Phone Brain Cancer Warning Labels (hmm)

Don’t you love sensationalistic headlines like this onee from the Associated Press? (via Yahoo! Tech)…

Maine to consider cell phone cancer warning

In this case, the entire state of Maine is actually one Maine legislator, Rep. Andrea Boland, who introduced a bill to require cell phones to have warnings that they can cause brain cancer (even though there is no definitive evidence for such a causal relationship).

I’m as concerned as anyone (perhaps a bit more) about the possibility that the radios in cell phones could have negative health effects. However, I haven’t seen definitive evidence that it does. That said, it doesn’t hurt to learn a bit more about what cell phone SAR (Specific Absorbtion Rate) values are and what they may mean to you in relation to the radio frequency (RF) emitted by all cell phones.

Three potentially useful references on this topic are found at:

CNET: Cell phone radiation levels

Mobile Manufacturers Forum: SAR Information

SARVALUES.com

Join Baratunde Thurston (left), The Onion’s Director of Digital and author of How to Be Black, for an entertaining look at creative social media campaigns in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. Other speakers include Morin Oluwole (Facebook), Tim Devane (bitly), and SocialTimes' writer Devon Glenn.   Register now.