Akimoto S et al. · 2010
Researchers calculated SAR distribution in a fetus using a numerical model of a pregnant woman exposed to the near-field of a normal mode helical antenna at 150 MHz. Fetal SARs were greatly affected by the distance and penetration path from the antenna to the fetal surface and were lower than occupational RF safety guidelines.
Kawai H, Nagaoka T, Watanabe S, Saito K, Takahashi M, Ito K. · 2010
Researchers used computational models of pregnant women at 4 and 8 weeks of pregnancy to calculate the specific absorption rate (SAR) in embryos exposed to electromagnetic plane waves from 10 MHz to 1.5 GHz. The models had a 2 mm spatial resolution and represented a woman similar in height and weight to an average-sized Japanese adult female, with either a cubic 4-week or spheroidal 8-week embryo. The maximum average SAR in the embryos was lower than 0.08 W kg(-1) when the incident power density was at the ICNIRP reference level for the general public.
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.
Balmori A. · 2010
Researchers exposed eggs and tadpoles of the common frog (Rana temporaria) to electromagnetic radiation from mobile phone antennae located 140 meters away for two months, from the egg phase until an advanced tadpole phase. The exposed group of 70 tadpoles showed low coordination of movements, asynchronous growth, and 90% mortality. A control group of 70 tadpoles kept under the same conditions inside a Faraday cage showed normal movement coordination, synchronous development, and only 4.2% mortality. The researchers concluded that radiation from phone masts in a real situation may affect development and may cause an increase in mortality of exposed tadpoles.
Unknown authors · 2009
Unknown authors · 2009
The study aimed to determine the effects of an extremely low-frequency 50 Hz magnetic field on oviposition and development in Drosophila melanogaster. Exposure of parental females and all F1 developmental stages to the field weakened oviposition in subsequent generations.
Unknown authors · 2009
The paper reviews literature on electromagnetic field effects on reproductive organs and prenatal and postnatal development in vertebrate animals. Review articles published until 2001 covering the entire frequency range were surveyed, and experimental studies from 2001 onward were summarized. The review placed special focus on radiofrequencies related to mobile communication. The majority of investigations found no strong effects of mobile telephony EMF on animal reproduction and development.
Sommer et al. · 2009
Male and female C57BL mice were exposed lifelong to UMTS fields at 1966 MHz with SARs of 0, 0.08, 0.4, and 1.3 W/kg. Development and fertility were tracked over four generations using histological, physiological, reproductive, and behavioral measures. No harmful effects on fertility or development were observed. Pup numbers and development were unaffected by exposure. Some data suggested effects on food consumption without a clear dose-response relationship.
Lee HJ, Lee JS, Pack JK, Choi HD, Kim N, Kim SH, Lee YS. · 2009
Researchers investigated the teratogenic effects of multi-signal radiofrequency electromagnetic fields on mouse fetuses. Pregnant mice were simultaneously exposed to CDMA and WCDMA signals for two 45-minute periods daily throughout gestation at a whole-body average SAR of 2.0 W/kg. Fetuses were examined on gestation day 18 for mortality, growth retardation, head size changes, and morphological abnormalities, and no adverse effects were observed.
de Gannes FP et al. · 2009
The study aimed to confirm earlier Russian and Ukrainian data on 2450 MHz microwave effects on immunological processes and teratology in rats. All results using ELISA and classic teratology end points were negative. The researchers concluded that exposure at 2450 MHz, CW, 7h/day for 30 days at 0.16 W/kg whole-body SAR had no influence on several immune and degenerative parameters or prenatal development.
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.
Ogawa K et al. · 2009
The study exposed four groups of pregnant CD(SD) IGS rats to a 1.95-GHz W-CDMA signal for 90 minutes daily on gestational days 7–17, with spatial average brain SARs of 0.67 and 2.0 W/kg for low and high exposure groups. On gestational day 20, all dams were killed by cesarean section and fetuses were evaluated for numbers of live, dead, and resorbed embryos, placental weights, sex ratios, fetal weights, and external, visceral, and skeletal abnormalities. Maternal body weight gain did not differ between groups, and no adverse effects were observed on any reproductive or embryotoxic parameters.
Finnie JW, Chidlow G, Blumbergs PC, Manavis J, Cai Z · 2009
Researchers exposed pregnant mice to 900 MHz radiofrequency fields at 4 W/kg for 60 minutes daily throughout gestation. Fetal brains were examined for heat shock proteins HSP25, HSP32, and HSP70. No induction of HSP32 or HSP70 was found in any brains, and HSP25 expression was similar in exposed and control groups. The study concluded that whole-gestation exposure did not produce a stress response detectable by HSPs.
Zareen N, Khan MY, Minhas LA. · 2009
Researchers exposed developing chick embryos to different doses of mobile phone induced EMFs by placing a mobile phone in the incubator in silent ringing mode. After 10 or 15 days of incubation, they compared developmental milestones of surviving embryos with a non-exposed subgroup. EMF exposure significantly decreased embryo survivability. Lower EMF doses caused growth retardation, while increasing doses shifted the effect to partial and then definite growth enhancement.
Gul A, Celebi H, Uğraş S. · 2009
Researchers exposed pregnant rats to mobile phones during pregnancy and examined ovarian follicles in their female offspring at 21 days old. The study group had fewer ovarian follicles than the control group. The authors suggest that intrauterine microwave exposure has toxic effects on ovaries.
Hässig M, Jud F, Naegeli H, Kupper J, Spiess BM. · 2009
Researchers conducted a cohort study tracking the geographical location of each dam and calf from conception through the fetal period to slaughter, with particular emphasis on the first trimester of gestation (organogenesis). Antioxidant activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase were measured in aqueous humor to evaluate redox status. Among 253 calves, 79 (32%) had nuclear cataract and 9 (3.6%) had severe nuclear cataract. Oxidative stress was increased in eyes with cataract, with an odds ratio of 0.80 per kilometer distance from the nearest base station and a 95% confidence interval of 0.62,0.93, and the authors state that it has not been shown that antennas actually affected stress.
Zareen N, Khan MY, Ali Minhas L · 2009
Embryos exposed for 10 post-incubation days showed decreased retinal growth and mild epithelial pigmentation. Extending exposure to 15 post-incubation days reversed growth retardation to enhancement and shifted pigmentation from mild to intense. The authors concluded that mobile phone EMF causes derangement of chicken embryo retinal differentiation. Retinal thickness and epithelial pigmentation grades were statistically compared between control and experimental groups.
Dimbylow PJ, Nagaoka T, Xu XG. · 2009
The study compared foetal specific absorption rate (SAR) across three sets of pregnant female computational models. The models included a 26-week foetal model from the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Tokyo, and models at 13, 26, and 38 weeks from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. FDTD calculations were performed at a resolution of 2 mm for a plane wave with a vertically aligned electric field incident upon the body from the front, back and two sides from 20 MHz to 3 GHz under isolated conditions. The researchers compared external electric field values required to produce the ICNIRP public exposure localized restriction of 2 W kg(-1) when averaged over 10 g of the foetus with the ICNIRP reference levels.
Rezk AY, Abdulqawi K, Mustafa RM, Abo El-Azm TM, Al-Inany H · 2008
Researchers enrolled 90 pregnant women with uncomplicated pregnancies and 30 full-term newborns for the study. Pregnant women were exposed to mobile phone electromagnetic fields in dialing mode for 10 minutes, and fetal and neonatal heart rate and cardiac output were measured. Exposure significantly increased fetal and neonatal heart rate and decreased stroke volume and cardiac output, with these changes becoming less pronounced at higher gestational ages.
Nagaoka T, Saito K, Takahashi M, Ito K, Watanabe S. · 2008
The paper outlines the development of pregnant woman models adjusted to reference physiological characteristics for gestation ages of 13, 18, and 26 weeks. The models are composed of voxels of 2 x 2 x 2 mm³ and include 56 tissue types. Basic specific absorption rate (SAR) characteristics for whole-body RF exposure were calculated using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method.
Batellier F, Couty I, Picard D, Brillard JP. · 2008
Researchers exposed fertile chicken eggs to a cell phone in call position over the entire incubation period. Embryo mortality was significantly higher in exposed eggs than in sham eggs in two of four replicates. The additional mortality occurred mainly between days 9 and 12, but a causal relationship with electric field intensity could not be established.
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.
Odaci E, Bas O, Kaplan S · 2008
Researchers investigated the effects of prenatal EMF exposure on the number of granule cells in the dentate gyrus of 4-week-old rats. Pregnant rats in the exposed group were subjected to a 900 MHz EMF for 60 min/day between the first and last days of gestation. The results showed that prenatal EMF exposure caused a decrease in the number of granule cells in the dentate gyrus (P < 0.01).
Unknown authors · 2007
Researchers developed an anatomical voxel model of an 89 kg woman at 30 weeks pregnancy to study low frequency field exposure. They calculated intracorporal electric current density distributions from homogeneous 50 Hz electric and magnetic fields and compared them to ICNIRP basic restrictions. The basic restriction was met in the mother's central nervous system at reference level exposure. However, the basic restriction was considerably exceeded in the fetus. The authors suggest revision of reference levels might be necessary.
Dimbylow P. · 2007
Researchers used finite-difference time-domain calculations to estimate SAR from 20 MHz to 3 GHz in hybrid voxel-mathematical models of the pregnant female. Mathematical models of the developing foetus at 8-, 13-, 26- and 38-week gestation were converted into voxels and combined with the reference adult female model, NAOMI at a resolution of 2 mm. The study calculated the electric field values needed to produce the ICNIRP public exposure restriction of 2 W kg(-1) when averaged over 10 g of the foetus.
