Reactive oxygen species elevation and recovery in Drosophila bodies and ovaries following short-term and long-term exposure to DECT base EMF
Manta AK, Stravopodis DJ, Papassideri IS, Margaritis LH. · 2014
View Original AbstractDECT cordless phone radiation doubled cellular damage markers in fruit flies at exposure levels 100 times lower than safety limits.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed fruit flies to cordless phone base station radiation and found cellular damage markers doubled in fly bodies after 6 hours. Female reproductive organs showed even faster responses, with damage markers increasing 2.5 times after just 1 hour of exposure.
Why This Matters
This study provides compelling evidence that even extremely low-level wireless radiation can trigger oxidative stress in living organisms. The exposure level used (SAR of 0.009 W/kg) is far below current safety limits and represents typical environmental exposure from cordless phone base stations. What makes this research particularly significant is the rapid response seen in reproductive tissues - ROS levels spiked within 30 minutes of exposure. The science demonstrates that biological effects can occur at power levels once considered harmless, challenging industry claims that only thermal effects matter. While the body's antioxidant systems can recover when exposure stops, continuous exposure appears to overwhelm these natural defenses, potentially leading to cumulative cellular damage over time.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 0.009 W/kg
- Electric Field
- 2.7 V/m
- Source/Device
- 1.88–1.90 GHz
- Exposure Duration
- 0.5, 1, 6, 24 and 96 h
Exposure Context
This study used 2.7 V/m for electric fields:
- 9x 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 objective of this study was to approach the basic mechanism(s) underlying reported ovarian apoptotic cell death and fecundity decrease induced by nonionizing radiation (NIR) in Drosophila melanogaster
ROS (Reactive Oxygen Species) levels were measured in the bodies and the ovaries of (sexually mature...
Male and female bodies showed twofold increase in ROS levels (p < 0.001) after 6 h of exposure, slig...
It is postulated that the pulsed (at 100 Hz rate and 0.08 ms duration) idle state of the DECT base radiation is capable of inducing free radical formation albeit the very low SAR, leading rapidly to accumulation of ROS in a level-saturation manner under continuous exposure, or in a recovery manner after interruption of radiation, possibly due to activation of the antioxidant machinery of the organism.
Show BibTeX
@article{ak_2014_reactive_oxygen_species_elevation_549,
author = {Manta AK and Stravopodis DJ and Papassideri IS and Margaritis LH.},
title = {Reactive oxygen species elevation and recovery in Drosophila bodies and ovaries following short-term and long-term exposure to DECT base EMF},
year = {2014},
doi = {10.3109/15368378.2013.791991},
url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/15368378.2013.791991},
}