Maine Rep. Andrea Boland (D-Sanford) is submitting a proposal that would mandate cancer warning labels on cell phones. While the cell phone-brain cancer link is still inconclusive, there is enough research, particularly with long-term effects that show such a link, that made Boland see the need for a consumer warning.

“Scientists warned about tobacco dangers in the ’30s and ’40s,” she says. “But we didn’t do the right thing and it took way too long to get the information to consumers about the dangers of tobacco.”

This comes on the heels of a similar push in San Francisco supported by Mayor Gavin Newsom that would require all cell phone retailers to label the phones with the SAR radiation levels they emit.

Maine’s proposed warning label is stronger, however. If passed, Boland’s bill would mandate that cell phone manufacturers put labels on phones that warn of the potential for brain cancer linked to low-grade electromagnetic radiation. The phones would have a color graphic of a child’s brain and the word “warning” printed in large, red letters.

Boland’s proposal to have a printed warning on each phone is scheduled to be discussed during the 2010 session that starts in January, says The AP.