Christ A, Gosselin MC, Christopoulou M, Kühn S, Kuster N. · 2010
Researchers compared absorption in cortex regions using MRI-based head phantoms of adults and children exposed to different mobile phone models. Locally induced fields in children were significantly higher (>3 dB) in brain subregions (cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus) and the eye due to closer phone proximity. Bone marrow showed an even larger increase (>10 dB) due to its high conductivity. Pineal gland showed no increase as its distance to the phone does not change with age. The study confirmed no age-dependent changes in peak spatial SAR when averaged over the entire head.
Vecchio F et al. · 2010
Researchers recorded eyes-closed resting EEG data from 16 healthy elderly subjects and 5 young subjects during GSM-on and GSM-off conditions lasting 45 minutes each. Spectral coherence measured inter-hemispheric synchronization across delta, theta, and alpha frequency bands. Elderly subjects showed a statistically significant increment of inter-hemispheric coherence of frontal and temporal alpha rhythms during the GSM condition compared to young subjects. The results suggest GSM-EMFs affect inter-hemispheric synchronization of alpha EEG rhythms as a function of physiological aging.
Thomas S, Heinrich S, von Kries R, Radon K · 2010
Researchers randomly selected 1,498 children and 1,524 adolescents from population registries in four Bavarian cities and measured their RF exposure over 24 hours with personal dosimeters. Mental health behaviour was assessed using the German version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Measured exposure in the highest quartile was associated with overall behavioural problems in adolescents but not in children. Exposure was associated with conduct problems in both children and adolescents.
Grigoriev YG et al. · 2010
Researchers replicated earlier Soviet studies from 1974 to 1991 that had examined immunological and reproductive effects of long-term low-level radiofrequency exposure in rats. Wistar rats were exposed in the far field to 2450 MHz continuous wave RF fields at an incident power density of 5 W/m² for 7 hours per day, 5 days per week, for a total of 30 days, resulting in a whole-body SAR of 0.16 W/kg. The results partly confirmed the earlier findings and indicated possible effects from non-thermal RF exposure on autoimmune processes. A separate part of the study suggested possible adverse effects of blood serum from exposed rats on pregnancy and foetal development of intact rats, though the researchers noted that applying these results to exposure standards is limited.
Rağbetli MC et al. · 2010
Researchers investigated the effect of mobile phone exposure on Purkinje and granule neurons in the developing cerebellum. Pregnant Swiss albino mice were exposed to GSM mobile phone radiation at 890–915 MHz at 0.95 W/Kg specific absorption rate (SAR). The study found a significant decrease in the number of Purkinje cells and a tendency for granule cells to increase.
Croft RJ et al. · 2010
Researchers tested whether adolescents and the elderly are more sensitive to mobile phone-related bioeffects than young adults, using both 2G GSM and 3G W-CDMA exposures. Resting alpha activity in the 8-12 Hz band of the EEG was recorded and compared between conditions in a double-blind crossover design, with each participant receiving sham, 2G, and 3G exposures separated by at least 4 days. Young adults showed greater alpha activity in the 2G condition compared to sham, but no effect was found in adolescents or the elderly, and 3G exposure produced no effect in any group.
Arendash GW et al. · 2010
Researchers studied the effects of long-term EMF exposure at 918 MHz and 0.25 w/kg on both normal mice and transgenic mice bred to develop Alzheimer's-like cognitive impairment. Both cognitive-protective and cognitive-enhancing effects of EMF exposure were discovered for both normal mice and transgenic mice destined to develop Alzheimer's-like cognitive impairment. In Alzheimer's disease mice, long-term EMF exposure reduced brain amyloid-beta deposition through anti-aggregation actions and increased brain temperature during exposure periods. The researchers concluded that EMF exposure may represent a non-invasive, non-pharmacologic therapeutic against Alzheimer's disease, while cautioning against directly extrapolating these mouse findings to humans.
Rağbetli MC, Aydinlioğlu A, Koyun N, Rağbetli C, Karayel M. · 2009
The study examined the effect of mobile phone exposure on the developing hippocampus in Swiss albino mice. Pregnant mice were exposed to a mobile phone in an exposure system room. Pyramidal cells in the hippocampus were counted using the optical fractionator method with Axiovision software. No significant difference in pyramidal cell numbers was found between exposed and control groups.
Kwon MS et al. · 2009
Researchers recorded mismatch negativity responses to duration, intensity, frequency, and gap changes in 17 healthy young adults while a GSM phone was placed on either ear with the field on or off. The mismatch negativity was elicited by all deviant types, but its amplitude and latency showed no significant differences due to EMF exposure for any deviant type. The authors concluded there was no conclusive evidence that acute GSM mobile phone EMF exposure affects cortical auditory change detection processing reflected by the mismatch negativity.
Budak GG, Muluk NB, Budak B, Oztürk GG, Apan A, Seyhan N. · 2009
Researchers studied thirty-six infant male New Zealand rabbits divided into four groups with different exposure regimens. Group 2 received extrauterine exposure for 15 minutes daily over 14 days, Group 3 received intrauterine exposure for 15 minutes daily over 7 days, and Group 4 received both exposures. Distortion product otoacoustic emissions were measured across frequencies from 1.0 to 8.0 kHz. Extrauterine exposure alone decreased emission amplitudes at 4.0 and 6.0 kHz compared with controls. Combined intrauterine and extrauterine exposure increased amplitudes at 1.5, 3.0, and 4.0 kHz relative to controls and the extrauterine group.
Budak GG, Muluk NB, Budak B, Oztürk GG, Apan A, Seyhan N. · 2009
Abramson MJ et al. · 2009
Zhijian C et al. · 2009
Researchers used the in vitro comet assay to determine whether 1.8-GHz radiofrequency radiation can influence DNA repair in human leukocytes exposed to X-rays. Leukocytes from four young healthy donors were intermittently exposed to RFR at a SAR of 2 W/kg for 24 hours with fields on for 5 minutes and off for 10 minutes, then irradiated with X-rays at doses of 0.25, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 Gy. DNA damage was measured at 0, 15, 45, 90, 150 and 240 minutes after X-rays using percent tail DNA, and repair speed was assessed via DNA repair percentage. The results showed individual differences in DNA repair speeds among the four donors. Intermittent RFR exposure did not directly induce DNA damage or show synergistic effects with X-rays.
Divan HA, Kheifets L, Obel C, Olsen J · 2008
Mothers of 13,159 children completed a follow-up questionnaire reporting cell phone use during pregnancy and the child's current cell phone use. Greater odds ratios for behavioral problems were observed for children with possible prenatal or postnatal exposure to cell phone use. After adjustment for potential confounders, the odds ratio for a higher overall behavioral problems score was 1.80 (95% confidence interval = 1.45–2.23) in children with both prenatal and postnatal exposure. The authors noted that these associations may be noncausal and may be due to unmeasured confounding.
Shirai T et al. · 2007
Pregnant F344 rats received a single dose of ENU on gestational day 18. Rats were exposed to a 1.95-GHz W-CDMA signal for 90 minutes a day, 5 days a week, for 104 weeks starting at 5 weeks of age. Brain average specific absorption rates were designed to be .67 and 2.0 W/kg for low and high exposures, respectively. The incidence and numbers of brain tumors in female rats exposed to 1.95-GHz W-CDMA signals showed tendencies to increase but without statistical significance, and overall no significant increase in incidences or numbers was detected in either males or females.
Schmid G et al. · 2007
Researchers measured the dielectric properties of 20 freshly removed human pineal glands less than 20 hours after death. They developed a high-resolution numerical model of the brain region around the pineal gland based on a real human tissue sample. FDTD computations were performed for handheld device exposures close to the head at 400-1850 MHz. The highest absorption was at 400 MHz with 11 microW absorbed in a 96 mg gland from a 500 mW device. At 900 MHz and 1850 MHz, absorption was lower by factors of 4.2 and 36 respectively.
Parazzini M et al. · 2007
The GUARD project involved nine European centers and aimed to assess potential changes in auditory function from low-intensity EMFs produced by GSM cellular phones. Participants were healthy young adults without any evidence of hearing or ear disorders. Auditory function was assessed immediately before and after EMF exposure using hearing threshold level, transient otoacoustic emissions, distortion product otoacoustic emissions, and auditory brainstem response. The study used a double-blind design with genuine and sham exposures separated by at least 24 hours. Exposure consisted of speech at a typical conversational level delivered via an earphone to one ear, plus genuine or sham EMF exposure from a consumer cellular phone at full power for 10 min.
Kan P, Simonsen SE, Lyon JL, Kestle JR. · 2007
Researchers conducted a meta-analysis of nine case-control studies with 5,259 brain tumor cases and 12,074 controls to examine cellular phone use and brain tumor risk. The pooled analysis showed an overall odds ratio of 0.90 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.81 to 0.99 for cellular phone use and brain tumor development. For long-term users of ten years or more, the pooled odds ratio was 1.25 with a 95% confidence interval of 1.01 to 1.54 based on five studies. No increased risk was observed for analog or digital cellular phone users.
Ha M, Im H, Lee M, Kim HJ, Kim BC, Gimm YM, Pack JK. · 2007
Researchers selected leukemia and brain cancer patients under age 15 and matched controls from 14 South Korean hospitals using the Medical Insurance Data System. Exposure to RFR from 31 AM transmitters of at least 20 kW was estimated using a GIS-based prediction program calibrated with measurements. The odds ratio for all leukemia was 2.15 for children within 2 km of the nearest transmitter versus those beyond 20 km. For total RFR exposure, lymphocytic leukemia odds ratios were 1.39 and 1.59 in the second and third quartiles versus the lowest, and brain cancer was not associated with AM RFR.
Parazzini M et al. · 2007
Researchers exposed 26 healthy young volunteers to 900 MHz GSM phone radiation and sham exposure in separate double-blind sessions. A rest-to-stand protocol assessed autonomic nervous system function during rest and after sympathetic activation. No statistically significant effect of EMF exposure was found on the main RR mean or most other heart rate variability parameters. A weak interaction between some time and frequency domain HRV parameters and RF exposure was observed around the sympathetic response to standing.
Ning W, Xu SJ, Chiang H, Xu ZP, Zhou SY, Yang W, Luo JH · 2007
Researchers cultured hippocampal neurons from rats and exposed them to GSM 1800 MHz microwaves at either 2.4 or 0.8 W/kg for 15 minutes each day from DIV6 to DIV14. At 2.4 W/kg, the density and mobility of dendritic filopodia at DIV8 and the density of mature spines at DIV14 were significantly decreased, and the average length of dendrites per neuron at DIV10 and DIV14 was also decreased. Dendritic arborization was unaltered in the exposed neurons, and no significant changes were found in neurons exposed to 0.8 W/kg.
Kumlin T et al. · 2007
Researchers exposed young male Wistar rats to a 900 MHz mobile phone signal for 2 h/day on 5 days/week. After 5 weeks of exposure at whole-body average specific energy absorption rates of 0.3 or 3.0 W/kg or sham exposure, rats were assessed for behavioral and morphological changes. No degenerative changes, dying neurons, or effects on blood-brain barrier leakage were detected, and no group differences appeared in the open-field, plus maze, or acoustic startle response tests. In the water maze test, significantly improved learning and memory were detected in rats exposed to RF fields.
Hung CS, Anderson C, Horne JA, McEvoy P · 2007
Researchers exposed 10 healthy young adults to talk, listen, standby, or sham signal modes for 30 minutes, then gave them a 90-minute sleep opportunity. Sleep latency after talk mode was markedly and significantly delayed beyond listen and sham modes. This condition effect was also evident in 1–4 Hz EEG frontal power, a frequency range described as particularly sensitive to sleep onset. There was no condition effect for subjective sleepiness.
Krause CM et al. · 2006
Researchers collected EEG data from 15 children aged 10 to 14 years while they performed an auditory memory task with and without exposure to a 902 MHz mobile phone in counterbalanced order. During memory encoding, the active mobile phone modulated event-related desynchronization and synchronization responses in the approximately 4 to 8 Hz EEG frequencies. During recognition, the active mobile phone transformed brain oscillatory responses in the approximately 4 to 8 Hz and approximately 15 Hz frequencies.
Kim SC, Nam KC, Kim DW. · 2006
The model used parameters such as daily usage time, total usage period, hands-free usage, antenna extension, phone SAR, and flip or folder type. The estimated exposure levels could allow epidemiologists to divide subjects into exposed and nonexposed groups for future brain cancer studies, provided more knowledge about usage patterns and exposure is available.
