San Francisco Nixes Plans to Regulate Cell Phone Radiation Levels
Do a little bit of research about cell phone radiation, and you will invariably come across the acronym "SAR." Short for Specific Absorption Rate, it measures "the rate at which energy is absorbed by the body when exposed to a radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic field"¹ If not for mobile phones and the subsequent scares regarding radiation and brain cancer, SAR probably would have remained a term with which very few individuals were familiar. As it is, however, the term caught on as a buzz word of sorts to measure how likely a phone was to give you brain cancer. It even was the basis for a potential law in San Francisco that would require vendors to mark all mobile phones with their individual SAR readings, in an effort to keep consumers aware of the potential risks.
However, the law has since been put on "indefinite hold," after doubt has arisen over the practicality of using SAR to measure the likelihood of a phone giving you brain cancer. Apparently, SAR doesn't measure averages, but rather maximum levels, of radiation. Which can be useful to know, but can't be used to create a rating system for radiation levels across millions of phones. Check out the source link for more info.
Source: 1)Wikipedia 2)Engadget
