San Francisco Loses Fight to Put Warnings on Phones

San Francisco is giving up its fight to become the first city in the US to require that cell phones come with warnings about the potential health risks of radiation, reports Reuters. The city tried to put such a law on the books in 2011, but the industry blocked it in court and then won again in federal appellate court. San Francisco officials say it would be too expensive to continue the legal battle and agreed this week to permanently revoke the ordinance.

Cell phone users shouldn't be upset, writes John Timmer at Ars Technica, who notes that all phones on the market must abide by FCC safety levels for radiation exposure. "Athough a number of small, preliminary studies have suggested potential dangers, larger, more comprehensive works indicate that any potential risks take decades to be felt, and cell phones simply haven't been in use long enough for us to know for sure," he writes. (More cell phones stories.)