Morphological and antioxidant impairments in the spinal cord of male offspring rats following exposure to a continuous 900 MHz electromagnetic field during early and mid-adolescence
İkinci A, Mercantepe T, Unal D, Erol HS, Şahin A, Aslan A, Baş O, Erdem H, Sönmez OF, Kaya H, Odacı E. · 2016
View Original AbstractDaily cell phone frequency exposure during adolescence caused spinal cord damage and myelin deterioration in developing rats.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed young male rats to 900 MHz electromagnetic fields (similar to cell phone radiation) for one hour daily during adolescence and examined their spinal cords. They found significant damage including deterioration of the protective myelin sheaths around nerve fibers, tissue atrophy, and increased oxidative stress markers. This suggests that RF radiation exposure during critical developmental periods may harm the nervous system's structure and function.
Why This Matters
This study adds to growing evidence that RF radiation can damage developing nervous systems, particularly during vulnerable periods like adolescence. The 900 MHz frequency used matches that of many cell phones, making these findings directly relevant to human exposure patterns. What's particularly concerning is that the damage occurred in the spinal cord, which is protected by bone and cerebrospinal fluid yet still showed clear structural deterioration and biochemical stress markers. The myelin damage observed here is especially troubling because myelin sheaths are critical for proper nerve signal transmission, and their degradation is associated with neurological disorders. While this was an animal study, the biological mechanisms of RF interaction with neural tissue are similar across mammalian species, suggesting these effects could translate to humans, especially children whose nervous systems are still developing.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study. The study examined exposure from: 900MHz Duration: 1h a day between postnatal days 21-46
Study Details
The aim of this study was to investigate changes in the spinal cords of male rat pups exposed to the effect of 900MHz EMF.
The study began with 24 Sprague-Dawley male rats aged 3 weeks. Three groups containing equal numbers...
Biochemistry results revealed significantly increased malondialdehyde and glutathione levels in EMFG...
The study results show that biochemical alterations and pathological changes may occur in the spinal cords of male rats following exposure to 900MHz EMF for 1h a day on PD 21-46.
Show BibTeX
@article{a_2016_morphological_and_antioxidant_impairments_1501,
author = {İkinci A and Mercantepe T and Unal D and Erol HS and Şahin A and Aslan A and Baş O and Erdem H and Sönmez OF and Kaya H and Odacı E. },
title = {Morphological and antioxidant impairments in the spinal cord of male offspring rats following exposure to a continuous 900 MHz electromagnetic field during early and mid-adolescence},
year = {2016},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0891061815000964},
}