The cell phone industry has announced that new cell phones will carry labels describing how much microwave radiation they emit. To summarize:

• A representative from the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) - the main cell phone trade group - said consumers will start to see the radiation labels on new phones in the next six months.

• The announcement comes amid growing health concerns that cellular phones might be linked to diseases dut to microwave radiation emitted very close to the user‘s head.

• Over 95 million Americans use cell phones.

• The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has set a maximum level of radiation of 1.6 watts per kilogram of body tissue, which current cell phones don‘t exceed.

• Some scientific studies have questioned the safety of the devices.

• A British government commission concluded that, although there currently is no conclusive evidence that cell phones cause harm, children should be dissuaded from using cell phones until science can conclusively determine whether absorbing radiation into the head is safe.

• Although the new phones will have these radiation labels, the labels will not be on the outside of the packaging, but inside.

• The US government has begun questioning whether the federal safety limit fully protects consumers, since the upper limit is focused on protecting a user from phones that actually destroy cells by heating them. This limit may not protect against any non-thermal effects of chronic exposure.