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Effects of radiofrequency radiation exposure on blood-brain barrier permeability in male and female rats

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Sirav B, Seyhan N · 2011

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Radiofrequency radiation exposure increased albumin in the brains of male rats but not female rats, suggesting a sex-dependent effect on blood-brain barrier permeability.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Researchers exposed male and female Wistar albino rats to 0.9 and 1.8 GHz continuous-wave radiofrequency radiation for 20 minutes to investigate effects on blood-brain barrier permeability. A significant increase in albumin was found in the brains of the RF-exposed male rats when compared to sham-exposed male brains. In female rats, no albumin extravasation was found in the brain after RFR exposure. The researchers noted that these results suggest that exposure at levels below the international limits can affect vascular permeability in the brain of male rats.

Why This Matters

The study used Evans-blue dye, which binds to serum albumin and has been used as a blood-brain barrier tracer, to detect any disruption of blood-brain barrier integrity. Right brain, left brain, cerebellum, and total brain were analyzed separately to evaluate blood-brain barrier permeability. Control rats were sham-exposed, providing a comparison group for the exposed animals. The exposures were carried out at SARs of 4.26 mW/kg for 0.9 GHz and 1.46 mW/kg for 1.8 GHz. The researchers stated that the possible risk of RFR exposure in humans is a major concern and that the topic should be investigated more thoroughly in the future.

Exposure Details

SAR
0.00426 W/kg
Electric Field
4.71 V/m
Source/Device
0.9 GHz
Exposure Duration
20 min

Exposure Context

This study used 4.71 V/m for electric fields:

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: 0.00426 W/kgExtreme Concern - 0.1 W/kgFCC Limit - 1.6 W/kgEffects observed in the Slight Concern range (Building Biology)FCC limit is 376 times higher than this level
A logarithmic frequency spectrum from 10 Hz to 100 GHz showing where this study's 900 MHz exposure sits relative to common EMF sources.Where This Frequency Sits on the EMF SpectrumELFVLFLF / MFHF / VHFUHFSHFmm10 Hz100 GHzThis study: 900 MHzPower lines50/60 Hz5G mm28 GHzLogarithmic scale

Study Details

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of RFR on the permeability of BBB in male and female Wistar albino rats.

Right brain, left brain, cerebellum, and total brain were analyzed separately in the study. Rats wer...

In female rats, no albumin extravasation was found in in the brain after RFR exposure. A significant...

The possible risk of RFR exposure in humans is a major concern for the society. Thus, this topic should be investigated more thoroughly in the future.

Cite This Study
Sirav B, Seyhan N (2011). Effects of radiofrequency radiation exposure on blood-brain barrier permeability in male and female rats Electromagn Biol Med. 30(4):253-260, 2011.
Show BibTeX
@article{b_2011_effects_of_radiofrequency_radiation_184,
  author = {Sirav B and Seyhan N},
  title = {Effects of radiofrequency radiation exposure on blood-brain barrier permeability in male and female rats},
  year = {2011},
  doi = {10.3109/15368378.2011.600167},
  url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/15368378.2011.600167},
}
DOI: 10.3109/15368378.2011.600167

Cited By (40 papers)

Quick Questions About This Study

Rats were exposed to 0.9 and 1.8 GHz continuous-wave radiofrequency radiation for 20 minutes.
In female rats, no albumin extravasation was found in the brain after RFR exposure.
A significant increase in albumin was found in the brains of the RF-exposed male rats when compared to sham-exposed male brains.
Disruption of blood-brain barrier integrity was detected spectrophotometrically using Evans-blue dye, which has been used as a blood-brain barrier tracer and is known to bind to serum albumin.
The results suggest that exposure to 0.9 and 1.8 GHz CW radiofrequency radiation at levels below the international limits can affect vascular permeability in the brain of male rats.