Low-amplitude, high-frequency electromagnetic field exposure causes delayed and reduced growth in Rosa hybrida.
Grémiaux A, Girard S, Guérin V, Lothier J, Baluška F, Davies E, Bonnet P, Vian A. · 2015
View Original AbstractRose bushes exposed to cell phone frequencies showed 45% reduced growth in developing shoots at non-thermal power levels.
Plain English Summary
French researchers exposed rose bushes to 900MHz electromagnetic fields (the same frequency used by cell phones) and tracked their growth for over a month. They found that EMF exposure significantly reduced growth by 45% in newly developing shoots, but only when plants were exposed at their earliest development stage. The effect occurred at extremely low power levels, ruling out heating as the cause.
Why This Matters
This study adds compelling evidence that radiofrequency EMF can disrupt biological development at non-thermal levels. The researchers used the same 900MHz frequency found in GSM cell phones, and the SAR level (0.00072 W/kg) was far below what causes tissue heating. What makes this research particularly significant is its demonstration that timing matters - EMF exposure only affected newly forming plant structures, not pre-existing ones. This suggests that developing biological systems may be especially vulnerable to RF radiation. The 45% growth reduction observed here parallels concerning findings in animal studies showing EMF effects on embryonic development. While plants aren't humans, they share fundamental cellular processes with us, and this research strengthens the case that our current safety standards, based solely on heating effects, may be inadequate to protect developing organisms.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 0.00072 W/kg
- Electric Field
- 5 and 200 V/m
- Source/Device
- 900MHz
Exposure Context
This study used 5 and 200 V/m for electric fields:
- 16.7x above the Building Biology guideline of 0.3 V/m
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 is to investigate Low-amplitude, high-frequency electromagnetic field exposure causes delayed and reduced growth in Rosa hybrida.
We exposed whole small ligneous plants (rose bush) whose growth could be studied for several weeks. ...
We observed no growth modification whatsoever exposure was performed on the 5-leaf stage plants. Whe...
These results suggest that exposure to electromagnetic field only affected development of post-formed organs.
Show BibTeX
@article{a_2015_lowamplitude_highfrequency_electromagnetic_field_1002,
author = {Grémiaux A and Girard S and Guérin V and Lothier J and Baluška F and Davies E and Bonnet P and Vian A.},
title = {Low-amplitude, high-frequency electromagnetic field exposure causes delayed and reduced growth in Rosa hybrida.},
year = {2015},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26643955/},
}