Takahashi S et al. · 2010
Researchers exposed pregnant rats to 2.14 GHz electromagnetic fields for 20 hours per day during gestation and lactation at low and high specific absorption rates. No abnormal findings were observed in the dams, the F1 generation, or the F2 offspring across multiple parameters including growth, organ weights, survival, development, hormonal status, memory function, reproductive ability, embryotoxicity, and teratogenicity. The authors concluded that under their experimental conditions, whole-body exposure to 2.14 GHz for 20 hours per day during gestation and lactation did not cause any adverse effects on pregnancy or the development of rats.
Lee HJ et al. · 2010
Male rats were exposed to 848.5 MHz RF for 12 weeks. The exposure schedule consisted of two 45-min RF exposure periods separated by a 15-min interval. The whole-body average SAR was 2.0 W/kg. Researchers measured sperm counts, malondialdehyde concentrations, spermatogenesis stage frequency, germ cell counts, apoptotic cells, and performed immunoblotting for p53, bcl-2, caspase 3, p21, and PARP. The study concluded that subchronic exposure did not have observable adverse effects on rat spermatogenesis.
Falzone N, Huyser C, Franken DR, Leszczynski D. · 2010
Researchers examined effects of mobile phone radiation on apoptosis-related properties in human spermatozoa. Ejaculated, density-purified, highly motile human spermatozoa were exposed to mobile phone radiation at specific absorption rates of 2.0 and 5.7 W/kg. Mobile phone radiation had no statistically significant effect on any of the parameters studied, including caspase 3 activity, externalization of phosphatidylserine, DNA strand breaks, and reactive oxygen species generation. This suggests that impairment of fertility reported in some studies was not caused by induction of apoptosis in spermatozoa.
Salama N, Kishimoto T, Kanayama HO · 2010
Sperm concentration dropped significantly in the phone group by week 8 compared to both control groups. Motile sperm percentage declined significantly after week 10 in the phone and stress groups, with a greater decline in the phone group. Seminiferous tubule diameter was significantly smaller in the phone group than in either control group.
Meo SA, Al-Drees AM, Husain S, Khan MM, Imran MB · 2010
Researchers used 34 male Wistar albino rats divided into a control group and two groups exposed to mobile phone radiation for 30 or 60 minutes daily for three months. The 60-minute daily exposure group showed a significant decrease in serum testosterone compared to controls (p=0.028).
Chavdoula ED, Panagopoulos DJ, Margaritis LH. · 2010
Researchers exposed Drosophila melanogaster to GSM-900MHz radiation for 6 minutes daily to compare continuous and intermittent exposure effects on reproductive capacity and apoptotic cell death. Previous work showed 6-minute continuous daily exposure for five days greatly reduced reproductive capacity, measured by F1 pupae count, and this decrease was non-thermal and linked to increased DNA fragmentation in egg chamber cells. The current experiments found intermittent exposure also reduced reproductive capacity and disrupted the actin-cytoskeleton network of egg chambers, with the effect also due to DNA fragmentation. Intermittent exposures with 10-minute intervals were almost as effective as continuous exposure, while longer intervals allowed the flies to partly recover.
Panagopoulos DJ, Margaritis LH · 2010
Researchers exposed fruit flies to GSM 900 and DCS 1800 radiation for daily durations of 1 to 21 minutes. Reproductive capacity decreased almost linearly as exposure duration increased for both radiation types. GSM 900 radiation was slightly more bioactive than DCS 1800 radiation at the same exposure durations and equal intensities.
Panagopoulos DJ, Margaritis LH · 2010
Researchers examined whether the bioactivity windows for GSM 900 and 1800 MHz radiation depend on field intensity by measuring reproductive capacity in Drosophila melanogaster. They compared insects exposed at the window distances (30 cm for GSM 900, 20 cm for GSM 1800) to insects exposed closer (8 cm and 5 cm) behind a metal grid that shielded microwave and ELF fields while keeping intensities roughly equal. The decrease in reproductive capacity did not differ significantly between the two exposure groups. The bioactivity window seems to be due to the intensity of radiation-field (10 microW/cm(2), 0.6-0.7 V/m) at those distances.
Panagopoulos DJ, Chavdoula ED, Margaritis LH · 2010
Researchers exposed adult Drosophila melanogaster to GSM 900/1800 mobile phone antenna radiation at distances from 0 to 100 cm and measured reproductive capacity and cell death in the gonads using the TUNEL assay. The radiation decreased reproductive capacity by inducing cell death at all distances tested. The effect was strongest at 20-30 cm (radiation intensity around 10 microW/cm(2)), diminished considerably beyond 40-50 cm, and was not evident beyond 1 m or below 1 microW/cm(2).
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.
Kesari KK, Kumar S, Behari J. · 2010
Researchers exposed male Wistar rats to mobile phone frequencies at 0.9 W/kg specific absorption rate for 2 hours per day over 35 days. A significant decrease in protein kinase C and total sperm count, along with increased apoptosis, were observed in the exposed rats. The results suggest that a reduction in protein kinase activity may be related to overproduction of reactive oxygen species under microwave field exposure.
Kesari KK, Behari J. · 2010
Sperm GPx and SOD activity showed a significant decrease in exposed rats, while catalase showed a significant increase compared with the control group. The percentage of apoptosis was higher in the exposed group, and significant decreases were found in the S phase and G2/M transition phase of the cell cycle. The researchers concluded that these radiations may have a significant effect on the reproductive system of male rats, which may be an indication of male infertility.
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.
Salama N, Kishimoto T, Kanayama HO, Kagawa S · 2009
Researchers used 30 adult male rabbits and exposed the phone group to 900 MHz radio frequency in standby mode for 8 hours daily over 12 weeks. At week 10 the phone group showed a significant drop in fructose levels and motile sperm percentage compared with baseline. Citrate levels and other measured parameters did not change significantly in any group throughout the study.
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.
Mailankot M et al. · 2009
Researchers exposed male albino Wistar rats to RF-EMR from an active GSM mobile phone for one hour daily over 28 days. Exposed rats had significantly reduced sperm motility but no change in total sperm count. RF-EMR exposure also increased lipid peroxidation and decreased glutathione levels in the testis and epididymis. Facial temperature did not change significantly during exposure.
Agarwal A et al. · 2009
After liquefaction, neat semen samples were divided into two aliquots, with one exposed to cellular phone radiation in talk mode for 1 hour and the other serving as an unexposed control under identical conditions. Exposed samples showed a significant decrease in sperm motility and viability, an increase in ROS level, and a decrease in ROS-TAC score. Levels of total antioxidant capacity and DNA damage showed no significant differences between exposed and unexposed samples.
De Iuliis GN, Newey RJ, King BV, Aitken RJ. · 2009
Researchers exposed purified human spermatozoa in vitro to radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation tuned to 1.8 GHz across a range of specific absorption rates from 0.4 W/kg to 27.5 W/kg. As the SAR increased, sperm motility and vitality were significantly reduced, while mitochondrial reactive oxygen species generation and DNA fragmentation were significantly elevated (P<0.001). The researchers also observed highly significant relationships between SAR, the oxidative DNA damage biomarker 8-OH-dG, and DNA fragmentation after exposure.
Falzone N et al. · 2008
Researchers exposed ejaculated, density-purified human spermatozoa to pulsed 900 MHz GSM radiation at SAR levels of 2.0 and 5.7 W/kg and compared them with controls over time. Mitochondrial membrane potential was measured by flow cytometry and showed no effect from the radiation. Sperm motility was assessed by computer-assisted sperm analysis, and all kinematic parameters were unaffected at 2.0 W/kg. At 5.7 W/kg, straight-line velocity and beat-cross frequency were significantly impaired over time (P < 0.05), with no exposure-by-time interaction. The authors state the result should not be ascribed to thermal effects due to cooling methods and temperature control.
Dasdag S, Akdag MZ, Ulukaya E, Uzunlar AK, Yegin D. · 2008
Apoptosis was assessed by immunohistochemical staining for cleaved caspase-3 in testicular tissue. The exposed group showed no statistically significant difference in apoptosis scores compared to sham and cage control groups.
Jauchem JR. · 2008
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.
Baste V, Riise T, Moen BE. · 2008
Researchers conducted a cross-sectional study among 10,497 military men in the Royal Norwegian Navy to assess work near radiofrequency-emitting equipment, infertility, and offspring sex ratio. Infertility increased significantly with increasing self-reported exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields. Adjusted odds ratios for infertility were 1.39 for low exposure, 1.52 for some exposure, 1.93 for high exposure, and 1.86 for very high exposure compared to no exposure. Higher paternal exposure was also associated with a lower ratio of boys to girls at birth. The number of children was not associated with exposure degree.
Agarwal A, Deepinder F, Sharma RK, Ranga G, Li J. · 2008
Three hundred sixty-one men undergoing infertility evaluation were divided into four groups based on daily cell phone use: no use, less than 2 hours, 2 to 4 hours, and more than 4 hours. Comparisons of mean sperm count, motility, viability, and normal morphology among the four groups were statistically significant. The decrease in sperm parameters was dependent on the duration of daily exposure to cell phones and independent of the initial semen quality.
Ribeiro EP, Rhoden EL, Horn MM, Rhoden C, Lima LP, Toniolo L · 2007
Researchers randomly divided 16 male Wistar rats into experimental and control groups; the experimental group was exposed to GSM radiofrequency (1,835–1,850 MHz) for 1 hour daily over 11 weeks. They measured rectal temperature, testicular and epididymal weight, lipid peroxidation, serum testosterone, sperm count, and histopathological endpoints. No statistically significant differences were found between exposed and control groups in any measured endpoint.
