AUGUSTA – The Maine Senate voted 20 to 13 against a measure that would have required cell phone manufacturers to place additional labels on packaging to help highlight potential health risks.
Just yesterday, House lawmakers voted 76 to 69 in favor of the bill, L.D. 1014, sponsored by state Rep. Andrea Boland, D-Sanford. Boland sponsored a similar measure during the previous Legislature. Some House legislators who opposed the bill before said they changed their minds after the World Health Organization released a new report this week cautioning cell phone use may be linked to cancer.
The bill, as amended, would require labels to be placed on the outside of cell phone packages that direct consumers to the page in the owner’s manual that already outlines such health risks.
Opponents of the legislation said it amounts to an unnecessary burden and suggest there is not enough data to support making Maine the first state in the country to enact such a requirement.
The measure will now go back to the House for further votes.
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