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Brain & Nervous System

Effect of exposure to 1,800 MHz electromagnetic fields on heat shock proteins and glial cells in the brain of developing rats.

No Effects Found

Watilliaux A, Edeline JM, Lévêque P, Jay TM, Mallat M · 2011

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Two-hour cell phone radiation exposure caused no immediate brain cell stress in young rats, but longer-term developmental effects remain unstudied.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Researchers exposed developing rat brains to cell phone radiation (1,800 MHz) for 2 hours at levels similar to what phones emit near your head. They looked for signs of cellular stress and brain cell damage one day later by measuring stress proteins and examining brain tissue. The study found no evidence of cellular stress or damage to developing brain cells at these exposure levels.

Exposure Information

A logarithmic frequency spectrum from 10 Hz to 100 GHz showing where this study's 1.80 GHz exposure sits relative to common EMF sources.Where This Frequency Sits on the EMF SpectrumELFVLFLF / MFHF / VHFUHFSHFmm10 Hz100 GHzThis study: 1.80 GHzPower lines50/60 Hz5G mm28 GHzLogarithmic scale

The study examined exposure from: 1,800 MHz Duration: 2 h

Study Details

In the present study, we quantified cell stress and glial responses in the brain of developing rats one day after a single exposure of 2 h to a GSM 1,800 MHz signal at a brain average Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) in the range of 1.7 to 2.5 W/kg.

Young rats, exposed to EMF on postnatal days (P) 5 (n = 6), 15 (n = 5) or 35 (n = 6), were compared ...

The GSM signal had no significant effect on the abundance of HSP60, HSC70 or HSP90, of serine racema...

These results provide no evidence for acute cell stress or glial reactions indicative of early neural cell damage, in developing brains exposed to 1,800 MHz signals in the range of SAR used in our study.

Cite This Study
Watilliaux A, Edeline JM, Lévêque P, Jay TM, Mallat M (2011). Effect of exposure to 1,800 MHz electromagnetic fields on heat shock proteins and glial cells in the brain of developing rats. Neurotox Res. 20(2):109-119, 2011.
Show BibTeX
@article{a_2011_effect_of_exposure_to_2819,
  author = {Watilliaux A and Edeline JM and Lévêque P and Jay TM and Mallat M},
  title = {Effect of exposure to 1,800 MHz electromagnetic fields on heat shock proteins and glial cells in the brain of developing rats. },
  year = {2011},
  doi = {10.1007/s12640-010-9225-8},
  url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12640-010-9225-8},
}
DOI: 10.1007/s12640-010-9225-8

Cited By (47 papers)

Quick Questions About This Study

No, this 2011 study found no increase in heat shock proteins HSP60, HSC70, or HSP90 in developing rat brains after 2-hour exposure to 1800 MHz radiation. The researchers detected no signs of cellular stress or damage one day after exposure at phone-typical levels.
No, researchers found no damage to glial cells after exposing developing rat brains to 1800 MHz radiation for 2 hours. Brain tissue analysis showed no changes in glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP) levels or microglial cell morphology compared to unexposed animals.
No, this study found 1800 MHz GSM signals had no significant effect on glutamate transporters GLT1 and GLAST in developing rat brains. These proteins help regulate brain chemical communication and remained unchanged after 2-hour phone-level radiation exposure.
None according to this research. Scientists measured multiple brain proteins including heat shock proteins, glutamate transporters, and glial markers after 1800 MHz exposure. All protein levels remained normal, indicating no cellular stress or damage in developing rat brains.
This study found no brain changes even one day after 1800 MHz exposure in developing rats. Researchers examined brain tissue 24 hours post-exposure and detected no alterations in stress proteins, glial cells, or other damage markers at phone-typical radiation levels.