Research on electromagnetic radiation from utility smart meters using RF communication.
Smart meters are digital utility devices that automatically transmit your energy usage data to power companies using radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic fields in the 900 MHz to 2.4 GHz range. Unlike the old analog meters that required manual readings, these devices communicate wirelessly multiple times per day, creating a new source of EMF exposure directly on your home.
Repacholi et al. · 1997
Researchers exposed female E mu-Pim1 transgenic mice to pulsed 900 MHz fields for two 30-minute periods per day for up to 18 months. Lymphoma risk was significantly higher in exposed mice than in controls (OR = 2.4, P = 0.006). Follicular lymphomas were the major contributor to the increased tumor incidence.
Persson BRR, Salford LG, Brun A · 1997
Researchers studied blood-brain barrier permeability in Fischer 344 rats of both sexes exposed to radio frequency electromagnetic fields. The exposure used 915 MHz microwaves delivered as either pulse-modulated or continuous wave signals. The rate of pathological leakage rose from 0.17 in controls to 0.39 across all exposed rats, a highly significant difference. Continuous wave exposure produced a higher rate of pathological rats (0.50 ± 0.07) than pulse-modulated exposure (0.35 ± 0.03), and that difference was also statistically significant.
Roschke, J, Mann, K · 1997
Researchers tested 34 healthy men in a single-blind cross-over study with a 900 MHz GSM field at 0.05 mW/cm² for nearly 3.5 minutes. They measured spontaneous EEG from C3 and C4 under closed eyes and found no difference in spectral power density between active and inactive phone conditions.
Gos, P, Eicher, B, Kohli, J, Heyer, WD · 1997
Researchers exposed exponentially growing Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells to electromagnetic fields from 41.682 GHz to 41.710 GHz in 2 MHz increments at power densities of 0.5 and 50 microW/cm2. Cell division was assessed by time-lapse photography using two identical chambers that allowed concurrent control and exposure experiments. Control experiments showed the cells were dividing at submaximal rates, ensuring that any increase or decrease in division rate could be observed. No consistently significant differences were found between exposed and unexposed cells across multiple independent experiment series.
Jensh RP · 1997
This review examined whether chronic prenatal microwave exposure in rats caused adverse effects at birth or alterations in offspring development and growth. Pregnant rats were exposed throughout pregnancy to continuous wave 915 MHz, 2450 MHz, or 6000 MHz radiation at power density levels of 10, 20, or 35 mW/cm2, respectively. Animals exposed to 915 MHz did not exhibit any consistent significant alterations in any of the parameters measured. Offspring exposed to 6000 MHz showed an initial slight but significant retardation in term weight, delayed eye opening, lower weekly weights that recovered by the fifth week, and changes in water T-maze and open field performance.
Vollrath L, Spessert R, Kratzsch T, Keiner M, Hollmann H · 1997
Researchers exposed male and female Sprague-Dawley rats and Djungarian hamsters to 900 MHz electromagnetic fields at 0.1 to 0.6 mW/cm2, continuous or pulsed at 217 Hz, for 15 min to 6 h. At day or night had no notable short-term effect on pineal melatonin synthesis in male and female Sprague-Dawley rats and Djungarian hamsters. Pineal synaptic ribbon profile numbers (studied in rats only) were likewise not affected The 900 MHz electromagnetic fields, unpulsed or pulsed at 217 Hz, as applied in the present study, have no short-term effect on the mammalian pineal gland.
Vorobyov VV, Galchenko AA, Kukushkin NI, Akoev IG · 1997
Researchers studied averaged EEG frequency spectra in eight unanesthetized adult male rats with chronically implanted electrodes in symmetrical somesthetic areas during intermittent exposure to a weak 945 MHz microwave field amplitude-modulated at 4 Hz. Hemispheric asymmetry showed power decreases in the 1.5-3 Hz range on the left and in the 10-14 and 20-30 Hz ranges on the right hemisphere. No differences between control and exposure were found in averaged spectra over 10 or 1 minute periods. However, significant elevations of EEG asymmetry in the 10-14 Hz range occurred during the first 20 seconds after most microwave field onsets when spectra were averaged every 10 seconds.
Salford LG, Brun A, Persson BRR · 1997
Researchers used Fischer 344 rats of both sexes with implanted glioma cells (RG2 and N32) in a matched-pair design. Starting on day 5 after inoculation, rats were exposed for 7 hours a day, 5 days a week for 2–3 weeks to 915 MHz continuous or pulse-modulated microwaves. The study found no significant difference in tumour size between exposed and control animals. Tumour size was estimated as the volume of an ellipsoid after histopathological examination of all brains.
Maes A, Collier M, Van Gorp U, Vandoninck S, Verschaeve L · 1997
Researchers exposed cells to 935.2 MHz microwaves alone and in combination with mitomycin C and found no direct cytogenetic effect. Combined exposure to microwaves followed by mitomycin C produced a very weak effect compared to mitomycin C alone.
Antonopoulos A, Eisenbrandt H, Obe G, · 1997
Human peripheral lymphocytes were incubated in the presence of high-frequency electromagnetic fields of 380, 900 and 1800 MHz. The measured endpoints were cell cycle progression and the frequencies of sister-chromatid exchanges. No differences between treated and control cultures could be found.
Irnich W, Batz L, Muller R, Tobisch R · 1996
Maes A, Collier M, Slaets D, Verschaeve L. · 1996
Researchers exposed whole blood samples to a 954 MHz GSM base station antenna and then cultured lymphocytes with mitomycin C. They measured sister chromatid exchange frequencies in metaphase figures.
Unknown authors · 1996
The study investigated the combined effects of 954 MHz microwaves and the DNA damaging agent mitomycin C. Whole blood samples were exposed in vitro to a 954 MHz emitting antenna from a GSM base station. Lymphocytes were then cultivated in the presence of mitomycin C. A highly reproducible synergistic effect was observed in sister chromatid exchange frequencies in metaphase figures.
Wolke S, Neibig U, Elsner R, Gollnick F, Meyer R, · 1996
Detlavs I et al. · 1996
Researchers exposed Wistar rats with full-thickness dermal wounds to RF EMF for 30 min daily during the first 5 days using 53.53 GHz without modulation, 42.19 GHz without modulation, and 42.19 GHz with a 200-MHz frequency modulation band. RF EMF without frequency modulation decreased glycoprotein macromolecules and reduced inflammatory exudation and total collagen accumulation. RF EMF with frequency modulation significantly elevated hexoses and sialic acid concentrations, indicating intensified exudative phenomena, and increased collagenous protein accumulation. The authors concluded that non-thermal EMF affects reparative-proliferative processes in soft tissue wounds.
Elekes E, Thuróczy G, Szabó LD. · 1996
Researchers tested the effect of continuous or amplitude-modulated 2.45 GHz microwave radiation on the immune response of mice. CW exposures induced elevations of the number of antibody-producing cells in the spleen of male Balb/c mice by 37%. AM microwave exposure induced elevation of the spleen index by 15% and antibody-producing cell number by 55% in the spleen of male mice. No changes were observed in female mice.
Elekes, E, Thuroczy, G, Szabo, LD · 1996
Researchers exposed male and female mice to microwave radiation at 2.45 GHz (similar to microwave ovens and WiFi) for 3 hours daily over 6 days to test effects on immune function. They found that both continuous and pulsed microwave exposure significantly increased antibody production in male mice (37-55% increases), but had no effect on female mice. This suggests that microwave radiation can stimulate immune system activity, with males appearing more sensitive than females.
Kubinyi G, Thuroczy G, Bakos J, Boloni E, Sinay H, Szabo LD, · 1996
Pregnant CFLP mice were exposed to 2.45 GHz microwave radiation for 100 minutes each day throughout gestation in an anechoic chamber. Brain aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase activity decreased significantly after continuous-wave exposure but not after amplitude-modulated exposure. Liver enzyme activity increased after both continuous-wave and amplitude-modulated exposure, while body and organ weights were unaffected.
Singh B, Bate LA · 1996
Researchers exposed pigs to infrared, low-power (6.1 mW cm-2), and high-power (11.4 mW cm-2) 915 MHz microwave radiation for 24 hours, with controls under natural light. Lung tissues were examined ultrastructurally and for acid phosphatase activity, and rough endoplasmic reticulum fraction was measured. Low-power microwave exposure increased the rough endoplasmic reticulum to cytoplasm ratio, prominent Golgi profiles, and secretory vesicles in pulmonary intravascular macrophages compared to other groups. High-power microwave exposure caused extracellular acid phosphatase precipitates and disrupted collagen matrix in the pulmonary interstitium. Intracellular globules appeared in infrared and low-power microwave groups but not in controls or high-power group.
Pashovskina MS, Akoev IG · 1996
A solution of rat muscle actomyosin was exposed to 2375 MHz pulse-modulated microwave radiation with rectangular pulse modulation ranging from 50 to 300 pulses per second. The study found that actomyosin ATPase activity was dependent on both modulation frequency and microwave intensity. Specific modulation frequencies were found to change the ATPase activity of actomyosin.
Sparks PB, Mond HG, Joyner KH, Wood MP · 1996
Researchers exposed 16 implanted Telectronics META pulse generators to simulated GSM transmissions and a 2-W digital mobile telephone. The devices were programmed to maximum sensitivity and tested in unipolar and bipolar settings and rate adaptive and nonrate adaptive modes. At maximum sensitivity, 11 of 16 devices showed no EMI, while brief ventricular triggering, pauses, and one episode of pacemaker-mediated tachycardia occurred in the remaining devices. When programmed to routine sensitivities, only one device displayed rare single beat ventricular triggering, and no changes in minute ventilation rate adaptive pacing were observed.
Sherry CJ, Blick DW, Walters TJ, Brown GC, Murphy MR · 1995
Researchers examined the effect of acute ultrawideband electromagnetic radiation exposure on monkeys performing a Primate Equilibrium Platform task. The exposure had no effect on task performance when tested immediately after exposure. Each monkey was exposed twice for 2 minutes at a pulse repetition rate of 60 Hz with a peak electric field strength of 250 kV/m.
Pakhomov AG, Dubovick BV, Degtyariov IG, Pronkevich AN · 1995
Researchers studied the combined effects of microwave radiation and drugs on an isolated frog auricle preparation. Exposure to pulse-modulated 915 MHz microwaves for up to 40 minutes had no effect on the rate or amplitude of spontaneous auricle twitches unless the absorbed power caused heating. Caffeine (1 mM) strongly increased the average heart power, and this effect was significantly augmented by about 15% under burst-type pulsed microwaves with an average SAR of 8-10 W/kg, while heating was only approximately 0.1°C.
Grigor'ev IuG, Luk'ianova SN, Makarov VP, Rynskov VV · 1995
Researchers exposed thirty rabbits to thirty-minute microwave irradiation at 1.5 GHz with a pulse intensity of 0.3 mW/cm2 and tested several pulsed modes. A reliable effect was detected only in the hippocampus, shown as an amplification of theta-range activity within normal functioning. The total bioelectrical activity of the cortex, caudate nucleus, hypothalamus, amygdala, and septum was not reliably changed.
Dimbylow PJ, Mann SM. · 1994
Researchers built a mathematical model of the human head from MRI slices and used finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) calculations to estimate the specific energy absorption rate (SAR) at 900 MHz and 1.8 GHz. The generic transceiver was represented by a quarter-wavelength monopole on a metal box, and three placement geometries were examined: vertical in front of the eye, and vertical and horizontal at the side of the ear. For the most typical position at the side of the head, the maximum SAR averaged over 10 g of tissue was 2.1 and 3.0 W kg(-1) per W of radiated power at 900 MHz and 1.8 GHz. Placement in front of the eye gave values of 3.1 and 4.6 W kg(-1) per W averaged over 10 g of tissue at 900 MHz and 1.8 GHz.