Study of effects of low level microwave field by method of face masking.
Rodina A, Lass J, Riipulk J, Bachmann T, Hinrikus H · 2005
View Original AbstractLow-level microwave exposure at 0.16 mW/cm² reduced visual recognition performance by 5%, showing measurable brain effects below safety limits.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed 10 volunteers to low-level microwaves (450 MHz at 0.16 mW/cm²) while testing their ability to recognize and order pairs of face photographs. The study found that microwave exposure caused a statistically significant 5% reduction in visual recognition performance compared to sham exposure. This suggests that even weak electromagnetic fields can subtly affect how the brain processes visual information.
Why This Matters
This study demonstrates that microwave radiation at levels well below current safety limits can measurably affect cognitive performance. The exposure level of 0.16 mW/cm² is actually lower than what you might experience from a cell phone held close to your head, yet it still produced detectable changes in visual processing. While the researchers characterized the 5% performance decrease as 'extremely weak,' any measurable impact on brain function from such low exposures raises important questions about cumulative effects from our wireless devices. The science demonstrates that the nervous system responds to EMF exposures even when industry claims suggest no effects should occur at these power levels.
Exposure Details
- Power Density
- 0.16 µW/m²
- Source/Device
- 450 MHz
Exposure Context
This study used 0.16 µW/m² for radio frequency:
- 16Mx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.1 μW/m²
- 266.7Kx above the BioInitiative Report recommendation of 0.0006 μW/cm²
Building Biology guidelines are practitioner-based limits from real-world assessments. BioInitiative Report recommendations are based on peer-reviewed science. Check Your Exposure to compare your own measurements.
Where This Falls on the Concern Scale
Study Details
The aim of this study was to examine experimentally effects of low level, modulated microwaves on human central nervous system function utilizing the phenomenon of visual masking.
Ten healthy volunteers, four males and six females, were exposed to electromagnetic field (450 MHz, ...
The phenomenon of visual masking is revealed as anamorphosis in subject's perception of two instant...
It was concluded that early stages of visual information processing are overwhelmingly robust and routine (and adaptively significant) activities, so that the low level 7 Hz modulated electromagnetic field effects exerted upon it are extremely weak.
Show BibTeX
@article{a_2005_study_of_effects_of_1293,
author = {Rodina A and Lass J and Riipulk J and Bachmann T and Hinrikus H},
title = {Study of effects of low level microwave field by method of face masking.},
year = {2005},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16142782/},
}