Oxidative stress response in SH-SY5Y cells exposed to short-term 1800 MHz radiofrequency radiation
Marjanovic Cermak AM, Pavicic I, Trosic I · 2017
View Original AbstractBrain cells show oxidative damage from cell phone radiation in under an hour at levels below current safety limits.
Plain English Summary
Croatian researchers exposed human brain cells to cell phone radiation for 10-60 minutes and found significant cellular damage. Even brief exposures increased harmful molecules that damage cells, with one hour causing damage to fats and proteins. This shows brain cells are vulnerable to short-term radiation exposure.
Why This Matters
This research adds to mounting evidence that radiofrequency radiation triggers oxidative stress in brain cells, even at exposure levels within current safety guidelines. The 1.6 W/kg SAR used in this study is below the 2.0 W/kg limit for mobile phones in many countries, yet still produced measurable cellular damage within an hour. What makes this study particularly significant is that it used human neuroblastoma cells, which closely mimic brain tissue responses. The finding that oxidative stress occurred at all exposure durations tested suggests that even brief phone calls may initiate cellular damage processes. The science demonstrates that current safety standards, based solely on heating effects, fail to account for these non-thermal biological responses that occur at much lower exposure levels.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 1.6 W/kg
- Electric Field
- 30 V/m
- Source/Device
- 1800 MHz
- Exposure Duration
- 10, 30 and 60 minutes
Exposure Context
This study used 30 V/m for electric fields:
- 100x above the Building Biology guideline of 0.3 V/m
This study used 1.6 W/kg for SAR (device absorption):
- 4x 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
To investigate the oxidative stress response in SH-SY5Y cells exposed to short-term 1800 MHz radiofrequency radiation.
To test the proposed hypothesis, human neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y) were exposed to 1800 MHz short-...
After radiation exposure, viability of irradiated cells remained within normal physiological values....
The results of our study showed enhanced susceptibility of SH-SY5Y cells for development of oxidative stress even after short-term RF exposure.
Show BibTeX
@article{am_2017_oxidative_stress_response_in_1184,
author = {Marjanovic Cermak AM and Pavicic I and Trosic I},
title = {Oxidative stress response in SH-SY5Y cells exposed to short-term 1800 MHz radiofrequency radiation},
year = {2017},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29148897/},
}