Maine considers cellphone warning

ALBANY, N.Y., March 3 (UPI) -- Maine is considering a bill that would require warning labels about the risks of electromagnetic radiation on cellphones sold in the state, a legislator says.

Rep. Andrea Boland, a Democrat, says the Children's Wireless Protection Act would require warning labels on cellphones and their packaging, alerting users to the risks of brain cancer from electromagnetic radiation emitted from the devices -- and cautioning that children and pregnant women should keep the devices away from their heads and bodies.

Opponents of the bill say there is no proof of a link between the cellphone electromagnetic radiation and brain cancer and leukemia.

Dr. David O. Carpenter, director of the Institute for the Health and the Environment and professor of environmental health science at the University at Albany, testified at a hearing in Maine, saying there is extensive and rapidly growing evidence that exposure to excessive levels of radiofrequency fields as a result of long-term and heavy use of cellphones poses a risk of cancer.

"A (2008) meta-analysis reported an odds ratio of 2.0 for glioma -- the risk of developing a brain tumor was doubled in those who used a cellphone for 10 or more years as compared to those did not use a cellphone -- but only on the side of the head where the phone was used," Carpenter said. "It is essential that everyone, especially children, be informed that there likely are serious health hazards from excessive use of cellphones."