Continuous wave and simulated GSM exposure at 1.8 W/kg and 1.8 GHz do not induce hsp16-1 heat-shock gene expression in Caenorhabditis elegans.
Dawe AS, Nylund R, Leszczynski D, Kuster N, Reader T, De Pomerai DI. · 2008
View Original AbstractHigh-level cell phone radiation (1.8 W/kg) did not activate cellular stress proteins in test organisms, suggesting minimal biological stress response.
Plain English Summary
Scientists exposed microscopic worms to cell phone-level radiation (1.8 GHz) to test if it triggers cellular stress responses. The radiation didn't activate stress proteins, and may have slightly reduced them by 15%. This suggests cell phone emissions don't trigger this particular stress response in these organisms.
Why This Matters
This study addresses a critical question in EMF research: whether radiofrequency radiation at levels we encounter from cell phones triggers cellular stress responses. The 1.8 W/kg exposure level tested here represents the upper limit of what's legally permitted from mobile phone handsets, making these findings directly relevant to everyday exposure scenarios. What makes this research particularly noteworthy is that it used higher power levels than previous studies that had suggested possible effects, yet found no stress protein activation. The 15% reduction in stress protein expression under certain conditions is intriguing but requires further investigation to understand its biological significance. This research contributes to our understanding of how organisms respond to RF radiation at realistic exposure levels, though we must remember that effects in simple organisms like nematodes don't necessarily translate directly to human health outcomes.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 1.8 W/kg
- Source/Device
- 1.8 GHz
Exposure Context
This study used 1.8 W/kg for SAR (device absorption):
- 4.5x 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 Continuous wave and simulated GSM exposure at 1.8 W/kg and 1.8 GHz do not induce hsp16-1 heat-shock gene expression in Caenorhabditis elegans.
we have exposed the same transgenic hsp16-1::lacZ strain of C. elegans (PC72) to higher intensity RF...
For both continuous wave (CW) and Talk-pulsed RF exposures (2.5 h at 25 degrees C), there was no ind...
Show BibTeX
@article{as_2008_continuous_wave_and_simulated_927,
author = {Dawe AS and Nylund R and Leszczynski D and Kuster N and Reader T and De Pomerai DI.},
title = {Continuous wave and simulated GSM exposure at 1.8 W/kg and 1.8 GHz do not induce hsp16-1 heat-shock gene expression in Caenorhabditis elegans.},
year = {2008},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17902155/},
}