6,486 Studies Reviewed. 85.2% of Original Studies Found Biological Effects. The Evidence is Clear.
Shield Your Body
Cellular Effects

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.

Bioeffects Seen

Dawe AS, Nylund R, Leszczynski D, Kuster N, Reader T, De Pomerai DI. · 2008

View Original Abstract
Share:

Neither continuous wave nor Talk-pulsed RF exposure at 1.8 GHz and approximately 1.8 W/kg induced heat-shock gene expression in C. elegans.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Researchers exposed a transgenic strain of the nematode C. elegans to radiofrequency fields at 1.8 GHz and a specific absorption rate of approximately 1.8 W/kg. For both continuous wave and Talk-pulsed exposures lasting 2.5 hours, there was no indication that RF exposure could induce reporter expression above sham control levels. When background reporter expression was moderately elevated in sham controls, the researchers found some evidence that reporter expression may be reduced by approximately 15% following exposure to either Talk-pulsed or CW RF fields.

Why This Matters

The researchers used the same transgenic nematode strain as in the earlier work, exposing it to field strengths close to the maximum permitted exposure from a mobile telephone handset. The main finding was that this particular nematode heat-shock gene was not up-regulated at the higher field strength. A secondary observation suggested that reporter expression may be reduced by approximately 15% under conditions where sham controls already showed moderately elevated background expression, possibly due to some unknown co-stressor.

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):

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 Exposure Level in ContextStudy Exposure Level in ContextThis study: 1.8 W/kgExtreme Concern - 0.1 W/kgFCC Limit - 1.6 W/kgEffects observed in the Extreme Concern range (Building Biology)This level is 1 times the FCC limit
A logarithmic frequency spectrum from 10 Hz to 100 GHz showing where this study's 1.80 GHz exposure sits relative to common EMF sources.Where This Frequency Sits on the EMF SpectrumELFVLFLF / MFHF / VHFUHFSHFmm10 Hz100 GHzThis study: 1.80 GHzPower lines50/60 Hz5G mm28 GHzLogarithmic 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...

Cite This Study
Dawe AS, Nylund R, Leszczynski D, Kuster N, Reader T, De Pomerai DI. (2008). 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. Bioelectromagnetics. 29(2):92-99, 2008.
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/},
}
PubMed: 17902155

Cited By (19 papers)

Quick Questions About This Study

The study used a transgenic strain of the nematode C. elegans, specifically the hsp16-1::lacZ strain designated PC72.
Worms were exposed to 1.8 GHz radiofrequency fields at a specific absorption rate of approximately 1.8 W/kg for 2.5 hours at 25 degrees C, using both continuous wave and Talk-pulsed modes.
There was no indication that RF exposure could induce reporter expression above sham control levels for either exposure type.
When sham controls showed moderately elevated background expression, researchers found some evidence that reporter expression may be reduced by approximately 15% following exposure to either Talk-pulsed or CW RF fields.
Earlier C. elegans work used much weaker fields (SAR 5-40 mW kg(-1)) than those routinely tested in many other published studies (SAR approximately 2 W kg(-1)), and this study was designed to resolve that disparity.