Bortkiewicz A, Zmyslony M, Szyjkowska A, Gadzicka E. · 2004
The review investigated subjective symptoms reported by people living near cellular phone base stations. Questionnaire surveys revealed various complaints mostly of the circulatory system, plus sleep disturbances, irritability, depression, blurred vision, concentration difficulties, nausea, lack of appetite, headache and vertigo. Studies showed a relationship between symptom incidence, exposure level, and distance from base stations. This association appeared in both people who attributed symptoms to the base station and those who did not. No studies worldwide found exposures exceeding ICNIRP standards.
Al-Khlaiwi T, Meo SA. · 2004
Researchers conducted a study in Saudi Arabia with 437 mobile phone users. The results showed an association between mobile phone use and health hazards, with headache at 21.6%, sleep disturbance at 4.%, tension at 3.9%, fatigue at 3%, and dizziness at 2.4%. The authors concluded that mobile phone use is a risk factor for health hazards and recommended avoiding long-term or excessive use through health promotion activities.
Wilen J et al. · 2004
The study assessed electromagnetic field exposure among RF plastic sealer operators and examined their health status. Measurements showed mean electric field strength of 107 V/m and magnetic field strength of 0.24 A/m, with 11 of 46 sealers exceeding ICNIRP reference levels. RF operators, particularly ready-made clothing workers, had slightly disturbed two-point discrimination ability compared to controls. No significant difference in subjective symptom prevalence was found, but time-integrated exposure was linked to fatigue, headaches, and warmth sensations in the hands. RF operators also had significantly lower heart rate and more bradycardia episodes during 24-hour ECG monitoring.
Unknown authors · 2003
Researchers conducted a survey of 530 people living near or not near cellular phone base stations. They compared frequencies of 16 non-specific health symptoms using a chi-square test with Yates correction. Older subjects showed a significant increase in symptoms. Facing the base station within 100 meters was the worst position for some symptoms. No significant difference was found for exposure duration except irritability increased after more than five years, and other electromagnetic factors also affected symptom frequency.
Santini R, Santini P, Le Ruz P, Danze JM, Seigne M · 2003
Researchers conducted a questionnaire survey of 530 people living or not in proximity to cellular phone base stations. They found that nausea, loss of appetite, and visual disturbances were reported up to 10 m, irritability, depressive tendencies, and lowered libido up to 100 m, and headaches, sleep disturbances, and discomfort up to 200 m. Fatigue was the only symptom significantly more frequent in the 200-300 m zone compared with those living farther away or not exposed. Women reported seven of the eighteen symptoms significantly more often than men at distances up to 300 m. Significant differences were also observed by age and by location relative to antennas and other electromagnetic factors.
Navarro EA, Sequra J, Portoles M, Gomez-Perretta de Mateo C · 2003
Researchers conducted a health survey near a cellular phone base station operating at DCS-1800 MHz in Murcia, Spain. Statistical analysis showed a significant correlation between declared symptom severity and measured power density, and the higher exposure group reported increased severity.
Kimata H. · 2003
The study included two experiments: a video game experiment where participants played Street Fighter II for 2 h, and a mobile phone experiment where participants were exposed to 30 incidences of ringing mobile phones during 30 min. Playing video games significantly increased allergen-induced skin wheal responses and plasma levels of substance P, vasoactive intestinal peptide, and nerve growth factor in atopic eczema patients, and also shifted cytokine production toward a Th2 pattern. Exposure to frequently ringing mobile phones similarly enhanced skin wheal responses and plasma levels of substance P, vasoactive intestinal peptide, and nerve growth factor in atopic eczema patients, but had no effect on normal subjects or allergic rhinitis patients.
Wilén J, Sandström M, Hansson Mild K · 2003
Researchers selected 2,402 people from an epidemiological study who used any of the four most common GSM MP. The study combined data on symptom prevalence, calling time per day, and number of calls per day with measurements of the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR). The results indicated that SAR values above 0.5 W/kg may be an important factor for the prevalence of some symptoms, especially in combination with long calling times per day.
Unknown authors · 2002
A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted in 1997 among 15,000 men and women aged 19 to 80 in Stockholm County with a 73% response rate. One and a half percent of respondents reported hypersensitivity to electric or magnetic fields. Prevalence was highest among women and in the 60- to 69-year age group. The hypersensitive group reported all symptoms, allergies, and other hypersensitivities, as well as being disturbed by various home factors, to a significantly greater extent than other respondents. No specific symptom profile distinguished the hypersensitive group from other respondents.
Unknown authors · 2002
Hypersensitivity to EMFs has been reported for nearly 20 years but the literature remains very limited. Nearly all literature concerns a dermatological syndrome with subjective symptoms such as itching and burning that appear after working with video display units and decrease during absence from work. Case-control studies and limited double-blind trials have not found a clear relationship between this syndrome and EMF exposure. A general syndrome with more general symptoms has been rarely described and appears to have a worse prognosis. The symptoms are mainly neurasthenic and nonspecific, overlapping with multiple chemical sensitivity and chronic fatigue, yet no valid etiological studies have been published for this general syndrome.
Unknown authors · 2002
Researchers reported the results of a telephone survey among a sample of 2,072 Californians. Being allergic or very sensitive to electrical devices was reported by 68 subjects, giving an adjusted prevalence of 3.2%. The strongest predictor of reporting hypersensitivity was a doctor-diagnosed environmental illness or multiple chemical sensitivity. Risk perception from hair dryers was most associated with self-reporting, but risk perception alone did not explain the characteristics.
Unknown authors · 2002
Researchers sent a questionnaire to 350 patients registered with electrical sensitivity at a Swedish hospital from 1980 to 1998, achieving a 73% response rate. The study included 50 respondents with hypersensitivity to electricity (38% men, 62% women) and 200 with VDT-related skin symptoms (21.5% men, 78.5% women). Patients with hypersensitivity to electricity were more often not gainfully employed (38% vs 17%) and their medical prognosis did not improve over time, unlike the VDT group.
Hietanen M, Hämäläinen A-M, Husman T. · 2002
The study tested the hypothesis that hypersensitive persons perceive symptoms from RF fields using double blind provocation experiments. Twenty volunteers who reported sensitivity to cellular phones participated. Exposure sources were one analogue NMT phone at 900 MHz and two digital GSM phones at 900 and 1800 MHz. Each test session lasted 30 minutes with three or four sessions in random order per day. More symptoms were reported during sham exposure than during real exposure, and no subject could distinguish real from sham exposure.
Santini R, Santini P, Danze JM, Le Ruz P, Seigne M. · 2002
Researchers conducted a questionnaire survey of 530 people, including 270 men and 260 women, living near or far from cellular phone base stations to assess 18 non-specific health symptoms. Complaint frequencies increased significantly (p < 0.05) for people living within 300 meters for tiredness, within 200 meters for headache, sleep disturbance, and discomfort, and within 100 meters for irritability, depression, loss of memory, dizziness, and libido decrease compared to those living beyond 300 meters or not exposed. Women reported headache, nausea, loss of appetite, sleep disturbance, depression, discomfort, and visual perturbations significantly more often than men (p < 0.05).
Hocking B, Westerman R. · 2002
Researchers reported a case of a 34-year-old journalist who experienced symptoms linked to mobile phone use. She agreed to a provocation study with her phone. Current perception threshold testing before and after exposure showed marked changes in the C-fibre nerves of the affected area compared with the opposite side. The case is supportive of a neurological basis for some cases of dysaesthesiae associated with mobile phone use.
Mueller CH, Krueger H, Schierz C · 2002
This double-blind laboratory experiment tested whether people can perceive a 50 Hz electric and magnetic field at 100 V/m and 6 μT, and whether self-reported electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) is related to that ability. A total of 63 volunteers, 49 with self-reported EHS and 14 controls, each judged 10 sham and 10 exposed two-minute blocks in randomized order. Seven of the 63 subjects reached a statistically significant result, but there was no relevant difference between self-reported EHS subjects and controls in perception success rate or in the number and types of symptoms reported.
Sandstrom M, Wilen J, Oftedal G, Hansson Mild K · 2001
Researchers conducted an epidemiological investigation including 6379 GSM users and 5613 NMT 900 users in Sweden, and 2500 from each category in Norway. The adjusted odds ratio did not indicate any increased risk for symptoms for GSM users compared with NMT 900 users. However, a statistically significant lower risk for sensations of warmth on the ear was observed for GSM users compared with NMT 900 users. A statistically significant association was found between calling time or number of calls per day and the prevalence of warmth behind or around the ear, headaches, and fatigue.
Koivisto M et al. · 2001
Researchers studied the influence of pulsed radiofrequency electromagnetic fields from digital GSM mobile phones (902 MHz, 217 Hz pulse modulation) on subjective symptoms in healthy subjects using two single-blind experiments. The results did not reveal any differences between exposure and non-exposure conditions. Exposure durations were about 60 minutes in Experiment 1 and 30 minutes in Experiment 2. Subjects rated symptoms including headache, dizziness, fatigue, itching or tingling of the skin, redness on the skin, and sensations of warmth on the skin.
Santini R et al. · 2001
Researchers conducted a questionnaire survey of 161 students and workers at a French engineering school about symptoms during digital cellular phone use. Users of 1800-MHz phones reported significantly more concentration difficulties than users of 900-MHz phones. Women using cellular phones complained of sleep disturbance significantly more often than men. Using both cellular phones and VDT significantly increased concentration difficulties. Longer daily calling duration and more calls per day were associated with more ear discomfort, warmth, and pricking.
Hocking B. · 2001
The article aims to inform professionals about possible health effects from RFR overexposure and the clinical approach to cases. It provides a clinical approach integrating patient symptoms and exposure circumstances. Emergency treatment and ongoing care are outlined along with sources of expert advice.
Lyskov E, Sandström M, Mild KH · 2001
Researchers investigated possible neurophysiological effects of an intermittent 15 sec on/off cycle, 60 Hz, 10 μT magnetic field on patients with perceived electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) and control subjects during rest and a mental arithmetic task. Magnetic field exposure did not affect autonomic system or electroencephalographic variables in either group. EHS patients and controls showed significant differences in heart rate, heart rate spectrum ratio, and electrodermal activity, while EEG characteristics did not differ between groups.
Schilling CJ · 2000
The study investigated effects of exposure to very high frequency radiofrequency radiation on six antenna engineers in two separate incidents. The first incident occurred in 1995 and the second in 1996. Six men were likely accidentally exposed to high levels of VHF radiofrequency radiation at 100 MHz while working on transmission masts, with four men in one incident and two in another. They experienced symptoms and signs including headache, paresthesiae, diarrhea, malaise, and lassitude. The condition of four men, two from each incident likely to have had the highest exposure, showed no significant improvement.
Oftedal G, Wilen J, Sandstrom M, Mild KH · 2000
Thirty-one percent of Norwegian respondents and 13% of Swedish respondents reported at least one symptom associated with mobile phone use. The most common symptoms were sensations of warmth on or behind the ear, burning sensations in the facial skin, and headaches. Most symptoms began during or within half an hour after the call and lasted for up to two hours. Relatively few participants consulted a physician or took sick leave, but about 45% of those with symptoms took steps to reduce them, and the authors concluded that the results suggest awareness of the symptoms but not necessarily a serious health problem.
Cox RA, Luxton LM · 2000
The study aimed to investigate cerebral symptoms from mobile telephones. Mobile phones affect the inner ear in 5-8% of users leading to dizziness, disorientation, nausea, headache and transient confusion.
Chia SE, Chia HP, Tan JS · 2000
Researchers conducted a cross-sectional community study in Singapore with 808 men and women aged 12 to 70 years selected by one-stage cluster random sampling. The prevalence of handheld cellular telephone users was 44.8%, and headache was the most prevalent symptom among users compared to nonusers with an adjusted prevalence rate ratio of 1.31 (95% CI 1.00-1.70). Headache prevalence increased significantly with increasing daily usage duration, while using hands-free equipment reduced headache prevalence by more than 20% compared to never using it. Handheld telephone use was not associated with a significant increase in other central nervous system symptoms.
