THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

INTRODUCED BY V. BROWN, D. O'BRIEN, PARKER, BROWNLEE, DAVIDSON, JOSEPHS, MUNDY, YOUNGBLOOD, DALEY, HARPER, PAYTON, STABACK AND STERN, APRIL 28, 2011

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON CONSUMER AFFAIRS, APRIL 28, 2011  

AN ACT

Requiring warning labels on cellular telephones by the Office of

Attorney General; and providing for recall.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Short title.

This act shall be known and may be cited as the Children's

Wireless Protection Act.

Section 2.  Purpose.

The purpose of this act is to inform all citizens about

possible health dangers that have been linked to microwave

radiation that is emitted by cellular telephones and the steps

that can be taken to mitigate those dangers, especially as they

relate to children and pregnant women.

Section 3.  Declaration of policy.

The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:

(1)  Independent public health experts advise that an

unprecedented public health threat to the millions of

cellular telephone users in Pennsylvania exists because of

exposure to electromagnetic radiation that can be emitted by

cellular telephones. Specifically, the experts are concerned

that:

(i)  Children, fetuses and the reproductive

capacities of men and women are the most vulnerable.

(ii)  The cellular telephone industry has not

demonstrated cellular telephone safety prior to cellular

telephone marketing, nor does it document health effects

after cellular telephones are sold.

(2)  Cellular telephones have been sold in the United

States since 1983. However, unlike other radiation emitting

devices, cellular telephones are exempt from regulatory and

legal requirements that ensure that only safe products enter

the marketplace.

(3)  Children have started to use cellular telephones at

younger ages; therefore, their lifetime exposure to cellular

telephone radio frequencies will likely be great. As a

result, children who use cellular telephones may risk harmful

health effects.

(4)  The public lacks information about the possible

dangers of microwave radiation and has a right to know about

simple measures that can be taken to reduce exposure to

microwave radiation emitted from cellular telephones.

Section 4.  Definitions.

The following words and phrases when used in this act shall

have the meanings given to them in this section unless the

context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Cellular telephone."  A device used to access a wireless

telephone service. As used in this act, the term shall include

any refurbished or remanufactured cellular telephone. A

refurbished or remanufactured cellular telephone is a used

cellular telephone that has been inspected, tested, repaired and

restored to full working condition at a factory or authorized

service center and made available for resale.

Section 5.  Warning label requirement.

A manufacturer of cellular telephones may not sell at retail

in this Commonwealth, to a retailer in this Commonwealth or for

use in this Commonwealth a cellular telephone unless both the

cellular telephone and its packaging bear a nonremovable warning

label that is legible, located in a prominent place, not

obscured by other written matter, contrasts with the type,

layout and color of the other printed matter, includes a color

graphic symbol, appears on both the front and the back of the

packaging, takes up at least 30% of the back surface of the

cellular telephone and contains the following statement:

WARNING

This device emits electromagnetic radiation, exposure to

which may cause brain cancer. Users, especially children and

pregnant women, should keep this device away from the head

and body.

This warning label requirement shall apply to all refurbished

and remanufactured cellular telephones sold by retailers for

profit in this Commonwealth.

Section 6.  Display.

All stores, retailers and businesses that sell cellular

telephones for profit are required to prominently and

conspicuously display signs, brochures, leaflets and other

paraphernalia bearing the warning under section 5.

Section 7.  Nonconformity with standards.

If at any time the Attorney General determines that a

cellular telephone subject to the provisions of this act and

sold two years following the effective date of this act or

thereafter does not conform with the standards required by

section 5, the Attorney General may order the recall and

replacement of the cellular telephone or order that the cellular

telephone be brought into conformity with those requirements.

Section 8.  Advisory warning.

The Office of Attorney General shall issue an advisory

warning of the effects of cellular telephone usage to the public

and on its Internet website.

Section 9.  Effective date.

This act shall take effect in 60 days.