Kleinlogel H et al. · 2008
Researchers tested 1950 MHz UMTS at SAR 0.1 and 1 W/kg and pulsed 900 MHz GSM at 1 W/kg on well-being and vigilance-controlled resting EEG in 15 healthy right-handed subjects. The study used a double-blind randomised crossover design. Neither UMTS nor GSM exposure produced significant changes in measured parameters compared to sham exposure. The results did not give evidence for a deleterious effect of the EMF on normal healthy mobile phone users.
Kim TH et al. · 2008
Researchers used a carousel-type chamber to expose the heads of C57BL mice to 849 MHz or 1763 MHz RF radiation. Mice were irradiated intermittently at 7.8 W/kg for up to 12 months. Brain tissues collected at 6 and 12 months showed no differences in histology, cell proliferation, NeuN and GFAP expression in hippocampus and cerebellum, or cell death between exposure and control groups. Body weights did not differ among sham, 849 MHz, and 1763 MHz groups during the study.
Grafström G et al. · 2008
Researchers exposed 32 rats to GSM-900 radiation once weekly for two hours over 55 weeks at average whole-body SAR values of 0.6 and 60 mW/kg. Sixteen rats were sham exposed and eight served as cage controls. After behavioral tests conducted 5–7 weeks after the last exposure, the brains were examined for albumin extravasation, dark neurons, lipofuscin aggregation, and neuronal cytoskeletal changes, but no significant alterations were detected.
Soderqvist F, Carlberg M, Hardell L. · 2008
The aim of the study was to assess wireless phone use and its relation to explanatory factors and self-reported health symptoms. A postal questionnaire with 27 questions and 75 items was sent to 2000 Swedish adolescents aged 15-19 years selected from the population registry using a stratified sampling scheme, and 63.5% of the study subjects answered it. Most participants reported access to a mobile phone (99.6%) and use increased with age; 55.6% of 15-year-olds and 82.2% of 19-year-olds were regular users, girls generally reported more frequent use than boys, and watching TV increased the odds ratio for wireless phone use adjusted for age and gender. Regular users of wireless phones had health symptoms more often and reported poorer perceived health than less frequent users.
Khan MM. · 2008
Researchers surveyed medical students using a questionnaire about mobile phone use and health complaints. The response rate was 86.6% with 286 of 330 forms completed. Most students (83.57%) had some knowledge about adverse effects of mobile phone use. Daily mobile phone use was less than 30 minutes for 55.94% of students, 30-60 minutes for 27.97%, 60-90 minutes for 11.53%, and more than 90 minutes for 4.54%. Reported symptoms included headache (16.08%), fatigue (24.48%), impaired concentration (34.27%), memory disturbances (40.56%), sleeplessness (38.8%), hearing problems (23.07%), facial dermatitis (16.78%), and a sensation of warmth in the ear area (28.32%); 44.4% of the 286 subjects linked their symptoms to mobile phone use.
Huss A et al. · 2008
Researchers conducted a systematic review of 59 controlled-exposure studies of radiofrequency radiation with health-related outcomes. Industry-funded studies reported the most outcomes but had the lowest odds of a statistically significant association. The association persisted after adjusting for number of outcomes, study quality, and other factors.
Hardell L, Carlberg M, Söderqvist F, Hansson Mild K. · 2008
Researchers evaluated long-term mobile phone use and brain tumour risk in published case-control studies. Ten glioma studies showed an overall odds ratio of 0.9, but a latency of ten years or more gave an odds ratio of 1.2, and ipsilateral use gave an odds ratio of 2.0. Nine acoustic neuroma studies gave an overall odds ratio of 0.9, rising to 1.3 with ten-year latency and 2.4 for ipsilateral use. Seven meningioma studies yielded an overall odds ratio of 0.8, with ten-year latency giving 1.3 and ipsilateral use 1.7.
Cardis E et al. · 2008
Most energy (97-99%) appears to be absorbed in the brain hemisphere on the side where the phone is used, mainly (50-60%) in the temporal lobe. The average relative SAR is highest in the temporal lobe (6-15% of peak SAR) and cerebellum (2-10%), and decreases very rapidly with increasing depth, particularly at higher frequencies. The SAR distribution appears to be fairly similar across phone models, between older and newer phones, and between phones with different antenna types and positions.
Barth A et al. · 2008
Researchers carried out a meta-analysis on 19 experimental studies. Ten of the 19 studies met minimum requirements such as blind design and reported means and standard deviations. Attention measured by the subtraction task seems to be affected in regard to decreased reaction time. Working memory measured by the N-back test seems to be affected: 0-back target response time is lower under exposure, 2-back target response time increases, and the number of errors on 2-back non-targets appears to be higher under exposure. The meta-analysis compared exposed with non-exposed subjects assuming a common population effect.
Hountala CD et al. · 2008
Researchers introduced spectral power coherence as a measure of coordination among four EEG frequency bands at a specific brain location. They found that delta rhythm contributes less to this coordination than theta, alpha, and beta rhythms. Gender differences in overall spectral power coherence were observed without radiation, but these differences disappeared during 900 MHz exposure and reversed during 1800 MHz exposure. The measure was calculated from pre-stimulus EEG during an auditory memory task under 900 MHz and 1800 MHz electromagnetic field conditions.
Rao VS et al. · 2008
The study used neuronal cells differentiated from a mouse embryonic stem cell line and a frequency-tunable applicator to examine calcium dynamics in real time. Control cells showed about five spontaneous calcium spikes per cell in 60 minutes, while exposure to 800 MHz RF radiation at 0.5 W/kg increased spikes to 15.7 per cell. The increase depended on frequency but not on SAR between 0.5 and 5 W/kg, and involved N-type calcium channels and phospholipase C enzymes. Microfilament disruption prevented the calcium spikes.
Hinrikus H, Bachmann M, Lass J, Tomson R, Tuulik V. · 2008
Thirteen healthy volunteers were exposed to 450 MHz microwaves pulse-modulated at frequencies of 7, 14 and 21 Hz to evaluate effects on electroencephalographic (EEG) rhythms. Modulated microwaves caused an average increase in EEG alpha power of 17% and beta power of 7%, while the theta rhythm remained unaffected. Increases in EEG alpha and beta power were statistically significant during the first 30 seconds of exposure at modulation frequencies of 14 and 21 Hz, but no enhancement occurred at 7 Hz. The researchers also found differences in individual sensitivity to exposure, with increases in EEG beta power appearing statistically significant in four subjects.
Hinrikus H, Bachmann M, Lass J, Karai D, Tuulik V. · 2008
Curcio G et al. · 2008
The study investigated whether repeated brief exposures to a GSM mobile phone signal had a cumulative effect on psychomotor functions. After each of 3 15-min exposures, both an acoustic simple reaction time task and a sequential finger tapping task were administered to subjects. No cumulative effects were detected, though there was a non-statistical trend toward shorter reaction times.
Ammari M et al. · 2008
Researchers investigated the effects of sub-chronic and chronic head-only exposure to 900 MHz GSM signals on spatial memory in male rats. Rats were exposed for 45 minutes per day at a SAR of 1.5 W Kg(-1), or 15 minutes per day at a SAR of 6 W Kg(-1), for either 8 or 24 weeks, and then tested in a radial-arm maze. Spatial memory was unaffected in the exposed rats, while scopolamine-treated positive control rats showed a deficit in the spatial memory task.
Yan JG, Agresti M, Zhang LL, Yan Y, Matloub HS. · 2008
Researchers exposed adult Sprague-Dawley rats to cell phones for 6 hours per day for 126 days and measured mRNA levels of several injury-associated proteins in the brain. The proteins evaluated included Calcium ATPase, Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule, Neural Growth Factor, and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor. The results showed statistically significant mRNA up-regulation of these proteins in the brains of exposed rats.
Sokolovic D et al. · 2008
Researchers exposed Wistar rats to microwave radiation from a mobile test phone for 20, 40, and 60 days to evaluate oxidative stress in brain tissue and whether melatonin could reduce it. Exposure led to a significant increase in malondialdehyde and carbonyl group concentrations in brain tissue, along with decreased catalase activity and increased xanthine oxidase activity. Melatonin treatment significantly prevented the rise in MDA content and xanthine oxidase activity after 40 days of exposure, but was unable to prevent the decrease in catalase activity or the increase in carbonyl group content.
Nittby H et al. · 2008
Researchers exposed rats to GSM-900 mobile phone radiation for 2 hours each week for 55 weeks at SAR levels of 0.6 and 60 mW/kg, then compared them to sham-exposed controls. GSM-exposed rats had impaired memory for objects and their temporal order of presentation compared to sham-exposed controls (P = 0.02). Detecting the place in which an object was presented was not affected by GSM exposure, and no difference in exploratory behaviour was seen in the open-field test.
Mathur R. · 2008
Researchers exposed growing rats to a radiofrequency field (73.5 MHz amplitude modulated, 16 Hz, SAR = 0.4 w/kg) for 45 days at 2 hours per day and recorded their responses to several types of noxious stimuli. The tonic pain rating was also decreased (p < 0.01), which the researchers said indicates analgesia in response to tonic pain. The data suggest that amplitude modulated RF field differentially affects the mechanisms involved in the processing of various noxious stimuli.
Lee KS, Choi JS, Hong SY, Son TH, Yu K. · 2008
Researchers studied biological effects of mobile phone 835 MHz electromagnetic fields in Drosophila at SAR 1.6 W/kg and SAR 4.0 W/kg. At SAR 1.6 W/kg, more than 90% of flies remained viable even after the 30 h exposure, while at SAR 4.0 W/kg viability dropped from the 12 h exposure. Both exposure levels triggered a stress response, increased reactive oxygen species production, and activated ERK and JNK signaling, but not p38 kinase signaling. SAR 4.0 W/kg strongly activated JNK signaling, expression of apoptotic genes, and amplified the number of apoptotic cells in the fly brain.
Joubert, V., Bourthoumieu, S., Leveque, P. and Yardin, C. · 2008
Researchers exposed rat primary neuronal cultures to a continuous-wave 900 MHz radiofrequency field at a specific absorption rate of 2 W/kg for 24 hours. A statistically significant difference in the rate of apoptosis was found in the RF-field-exposed neurons compared to the sham-, 37°C- and 39°C-exposed neurons either 0 or 24 h after exposure using both methods. The percentage of AIF-positive nuclei in RF-field-exposed neurons was increased by three- to sevenfold compared to other conditions, while no increase in caspase 3 activity was found.
Eberhardt JL, Persson BR, Brun AE, Salford LG, Malmgren LO · 2008
Researchers exposed rats to GSM microwave signals in the 900 MHz band and measured blood-brain barrier permeability and signs of neuronal damage after recovery periods of 14 or 28 days. Non-anaesthetized rats were sham exposed or exposed to microwaves for 2 hours at whole-body specific absorption rates of 0.12, 1.2, 12, or 120 mW/kg. Albumin leakage and its uptake into neurons was enhanced after 14 days but not after the 28-day recovery period, while the occurrence of dark neurons was enhanced after 28 days.
Croft RJ et al. · 2008
Researchers tested 120 healthy participants in a double-blind, counterbalanced crossover design, with each person receiving a 30-minute active and a 30-minute sham exposure one week apart while EEG data were recorded. The purpose of the study was to test one of the strongest findings in the literature, that of increased alpha power in response to MP-type radiation. Overall alpha power was enhanced during exposure, with the effect larger at sites on the same side as the exposure source than on the opposite side over posterior regions. After exposure ended, no overall change to alpha power was observed, though there was less alpha power contralateral to the exposure source relative to the ipsilateral side.
Ammari M, Lecomte A, Sakly M, Abdelmelek H, de-Seze R · 2008
Researchers measured cytochrome oxidase levels in rat brains using histochemical methods to evaluate regional brain metabolic activity after GSM 900 MHz signal exposure. Rats were exposed either for 45 minutes per day at a SAR of 1.5 W/Kg or for 15 minutes per day at a SAR of 6 W/Kg, over seven days. At 6 W/Kg, decreased CO activity was found in areas of the prefrontal and frontal cortex, the hippocampus, and the posterior cortex, while exposure at 1.5 W/Kg did not affect brain activity.
Ammari M et al. · 2008
Researchers measured GFAP expression in rat brain areas using immunocytochemistry to evaluate glial changes 10 days after chronic exposure to a GSM 900 MHz signal. Rats were exposed 5 days a week for 24 weeks at a brain-averaged SAR of 1.5 W/kg for 45 minutes per day, or at 6 W/kg for 15 minutes per day. Compared with sham or cage control animals, rats exposed at 6 W/kg had increased GFAP stained surface areas (p < 0.05), while exposure at 1.5 W/kg did not increase GFAP expression. The researchers noted that chronic exposure at 6 W/kg may induce persistent astroglia activation in the rat brain, which they described as a sign of a potential gliosis.
