8,700 Studies Reviewed. 87.0% Found Biological Effects. The Evidence is Clear.
Shield Your Body

Note: This study found no significant biological effects under its experimental conditions. We include all studies for scientific completeness.

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

View Original Abstract
Share:

Single 2-hour cell phone radiation exposure caused no immediate brain stress in young rats, but chronic daily exposure effects remain unstudied.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

French researchers exposed developing rats to cell phone radiation (1800 MHz) for 2 hours at SAR levels of 1.7-2.5 W/kg to see if it would trigger stress responses or damage in brain cells. They found no evidence of cellular stress, inflammation, or damage to the glial cells that support brain function. This suggests that brief exposures to cell phone radiation at these levels may not cause immediate harm to developing brain tissue.

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: 1800 MHz Duration: 2 hours

Study Details

The aim of this study is to investigate Effect of exposure to 1,800 MHz electromagnetic fields on heat shock proteins and glial cells in the brain of developing rats.

In the present study, we quantified cell stress and glial responses in the brain of developing rats ...

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_3487,
  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},
  
  url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21042961/},
}
PubMed: 21042961

Cited By (47 papers)

Quick Questions About This Study

No, French researchers found that 2-hour exposures to 1800 MHz cell phone radiation at SAR levels of 1.7-2.5 W/kg did not trigger stress responses in developing rat brains. The study detected no changes in heat shock proteins or other cellular stress markers in brain tissue.
Research shows 1800 MHz radiation does not damage glial cells that support brain function. The 2011 study found no changes in glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP) or microglial cell morphology after exposing developing rats to cell phone frequencies for 2 hours.
No evidence of brain inflammation was found after brief cell phone radiation exposure. Researchers exposed developing rats to 1800 MHz signals and found no inflammatory responses or changes in microglial cells that would indicate tissue damage or immune activation.
Researchers tested SAR levels of 1.7-2.5 W/kg in developing rats exposed to 1800 MHz radiation for 2 hours. These exposure levels, which are within typical cell phone usage ranges, produced no detectable effects on brain cell stress markers or glial cell function.
No, glutamate transporters remained unchanged after 1800 MHz radiation exposure. The study found no alterations in GLT1 and GLAST transporters, which are crucial for clearing glutamate neurotransmitter from brain synapses, suggesting normal brain communication pathways were maintained.