Modest increase in temperature affects ODC activity in L929 cells: low-level radiofrequency radiation does not.
Hoyto A, Sihvonen AP, Alhonen L, Juutilainen J, Naarala J · 2006
View Original AbstractRF radiation showed no cellular effects, but temperature increases under 1°C did, highlighting the critical importance of temperature control in EMF studies.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed mouse cells to cell phone-level radiofrequency radiation for 24 hours. The RF radiation itself caused no biological effects, but tiny temperature increases (less than 1°C) significantly affected cellular enzyme activity, showing temperature control is crucial in EMF studies.
Why This Matters
This study delivers an important methodological message for EMF research: what appears to be an electromagnetic effect might actually be a temperature effect. The researchers found that RF radiation at SAR levels of 0.2 to 0.4 W/kg (comparable to cell phone exposures) produced no biological changes, but temperature increases of less than 1°C did affect cellular processes. This finding underscores a fundamental challenge in EMF research. Many studies claiming to show biological effects from radiofrequency radiation may actually be measuring the effects of inadequate temperature control in their experimental setups. The reality is that distinguishing true electromagnetic effects from thermal artifacts requires extremely precise experimental conditions. What this means for you is that when evaluating EMF research, you should look for studies that demonstrate rigorous temperature control, as this study shows how even minor heating can produce measurable biological changes that have nothing to do with the electromagnetic fields themselves.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 0.1-0.3, 0.3-0.5 W/kg
- Source/Device
- 900 MHz
- Exposure Duration
- 2, 8, or 24 hours
Where This Falls on the Concern Scale
Study Details
The effects of low-level radiofrequency (RF) radiation and elevated temperature on ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity were investigated in murine L929 fibroblasts
The cells were exposed at 900 MHz either to a pulse-modulated (pulse frequency 217 Hz; GSM-type modu...
RF radiation did not affect cellular ODC activity. However, a slight increase in temperature (0.8-0....
The results show that ODC activity is sensitive to small temperature differences in cell cultures. Hence, a precise temperature control in cellular ODC activity studies is needed.
Show BibTeX
@article{a_2006_modest_increase_in_temperature_1032,
author = {Hoyto A and Sihvonen AP and Alhonen L and Juutilainen J and Naarala J},
title = {Modest increase in temperature affects ODC activity in L929 cells: low-level radiofrequency radiation does not.},
year = {2006},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16850337/},
}