Non-thermal exposure to radiofrequency energy from digital wireless phones does not affect ornithine decarboxylase activity in L929 Cells.
Desta AB, Owen RD, Cress LW. · 2003
View Original AbstractCell phone radiation up to 15 W/kg SAR showed no non-thermal effects on a cancer-related enzyme, only thermal damage.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed mouse cells to 835 MHz cell phone radiation for 8 hours to test effects on a growth-related enzyme. They found no cellular changes at typical phone exposure levels, only when radiation heated cells enough to cause thermal damage, contradicting some earlier studies.
Why This Matters
This FDA-conducted study is significant because it directly contradicts earlier research claiming that RF radiation enhances ODC activity, an enzyme associated with tumor promotion and cell proliferation. The researchers used exposure levels up to 15 W/kg SAR, which is 7.5 times higher than the current US safety limit of 2 W/kg for cell phones. What this means for you: the study found biological effects only when radiation levels were high enough to heat cells, supporting the current regulatory assumption that heating is the primary concern. However, this single study on one enzyme in mouse cells doesn't settle the broader question of non-thermal effects. The reality is that other research has documented cellular changes at much lower exposure levels, and ODC activity represents just one of many potential biological pathways that RF radiation might influence.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- <1 - 15 W/kg
- Source/Device
- 835 MHz
- Exposure Duration
- 8 hours
Exposure Context
This study used <1 - 15 W/kg for SAR (device absorption):
- 2.5x above the Building Biology guideline of 0.4 W/kg
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 Non-thermal exposure to radiofrequency energy from digital wireless phones does not affect ornithine decarboxylase activity in L929 cells
L929 murine fibroblast cells were exposed to radiofrequency (RF) radiation from a time division mult...
No statistically significant difference in ODC activity was found between RF-radiation-exposed and s...
Show BibTeX
@article{ab_2003_nonthermal_exposure_to_radiofrequency_944,
author = {Desta AB and Owen RD and Cress LW.},
title = {Non-thermal exposure to radiofrequency energy from digital wireless phones does not affect ornithine decarboxylase activity in L929 Cells.},
year = {2003},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12968926/},
}