FCC to re-examine cell phone radiation standards

The Federal Communications Commission is planning to take a closer look at its standards for cell phone safety to see if the agency needs to revise the 15-year-old guidelines.

Later today, Chairman Julius Genachowski will circulate a notice of inquiry that will look at a series of questions surrounding whether the current standards need to be updated or whether the agency’s testing practices should be altered, a source at the commission said. And the agency will also examine whether it needs to make improvements in how it communicates safety information to consumers.

The FCC hopes to get comments from the public on the issue. It has not set a time-frame for when the comment period will end. And the agency also has not said whether it will update the current rules and standards. In fact, there’s a chance the commission may leave the current limits in place. A representative for the agency said the checkup is a routine review of the standards and was not prompted by any new developments or complaints about cell phone safety.

“We are confident that, as set, the emissions guidelines for devices pose no risks to consumers,” Tammy Sun, a spokeswoman for the FCC, said in a statement. “The United States has the most conservative emissions standards in the world. Our action today is a routine review of our standards. We hope and expect that other federal agencies and organizations with whom we work with on this issue will participate in the process.”