Proclaimed the first of its kind nationwide, the ordinance required retail shops to display posters and distribute fact sheets to inform cell phone buyers about cell phone radiation and how to reduce their exposure to those emissions.
“San Francisco and Burlingame [which adopted a similar ordinance] are true leaders in consumers’ rights,” said Renée Sharp, director of the Environmental Working Group (EWG) California office said then. “We hope this movement will spread throughout the state and nation. Cell phone users everywhere have, at the very least, a right to be informed about their potential exposure to radiation and how they can minimize it.”
Well, that didn't happen.
Instead the cell phone industry's trade association, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), sued the city, claiming the ordinance violated retailers' free speech rights.
Fight ends tomorrow
The legal fight dragged on but is expected to end officially tomorrow when the San Francisco Board of Supervisors accepts a settlement that lets it off the hook for $500,000 in legal fees the CTIA ran up litigating the suit.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled on Sept. 10, 2012 in favor of the industry and the city has basically thrown in the towel.
"We are disappointed that residents of San Francisco will not have access to important public health information about radiation emissions from wireless devices at the point of sale," EWG's Ms. Sharp said. "We strongly believe consumers have the right to know about the potential health effects of cell phone radiation and how they can reduce their exposures."
“The decision by 9th Circuit was deeply flawed. If the nation’s experience with tobacco taught us anything, it is that it is dangerous to wait until there is scientific consensus about a potential health threat before providing consumers with information on how they can protect themselves," she said. "Unfortunately, the court ruled that the city could not require retailers to provide consumers with balanced precautionary information.