San Francisco will be the first city in the nation to pass a law requiring that retailers post the “specific absorption rate” or SAR of each cell phone they are selling, the LA Times reports. The SAR refers to the amount of radiation emitted by the phone. The law would only apply to SF stores. Mayor Gavin Newsom is expected to sign it into law after a 10-day period for comments.

For more on the dangers of cell phone radiation, revisit our January 2010 story in GQ, “Is Your Cell Phone Hazardous to Your Health?” In it, reporter Chris Ketcham finds that despite unresolved debate, multiple reports from Europe’s premier research institutions show that “cell-phone and PDA use [are] linked to ‘brain aging,’ brain damage, early-onset Alz­heimer’s, senility, DNA damage, and even sperm die-offs.” Even more troubling, Ketcham writes, are the results of a multinational Interphone study, in which scientists from 13 countries—but not the United States—took part, which found that “after a decade of cell-phone use, the chance of getting a brain tumor—specifically on the side of the head where you use the phone—goes up as much as 40 percent for adults.”

Read the story here.