Effects of prenatal exposure to a 900 MHz electromagnetic field on the dentate gyrus of rats: a stereological and histopathological study.
Odaci E, Bas O, Kaplan S · 2008
View Original AbstractPrenatal cell phone-level EMF exposure reduced brain cell development in rat offspring, suggesting pregnancy may be a critical window of vulnerability.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed pregnant rats to cell phone-frequency electromagnetic fields daily during pregnancy. Their offspring showed significantly fewer brain cells in the hippocampus region responsible for learning and memory, suggesting EMF exposure during pregnancy may harm developing brain tissue.
Why This Matters
This study adds to growing concerns about EMF exposure during critical developmental windows. The 900 MHz frequency and SAR level of 2 W/kg used here falls within the range of typical cell phone emissions, making these findings directly relevant to pregnant women who use mobile devices. The dentate gyrus is particularly important because it's one of the few brain regions where new neurons continue to form throughout life, and disruption during fetal development could have lasting consequences for learning and memory. What makes this research especially significant is that it demonstrates measurable brain changes from prenatal exposure alone, suggesting the developing brain may be more vulnerable to EMF effects than previously recognized. The reality is that pregnant women today carry phones in pockets, sleep with devices nearby, and use wireless technology throughout the day, potentially exposing their developing babies to similar radiation levels.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 2 W/kg
- Power Density
- 1 µW/m²
- Source/Device
- 900 MHz
- Exposure Duration
- 60 min/day
Exposure Context
This study used 1 µW/m² for radio frequency:
- 100Mx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.1 μW/m²
- 1.7Mx above the BioInitiative Report recommendation of 0.0006 μW/cm²
This study used 2 W/kg for SAR (device absorption):
- 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
In this study, the effects of prenatal exposure to EMF on the number of granule cells in the dentate gyrus of 4-week-old rats were investigated.
This experiment used a control (Cont) group and an EMF exposed (EMF) group (three pregnant rats each...
The results showed that prenatal EMF exposure caused a decrease in the number of granule cells in th...
Show BibTeX
@article{e_2008_effects_of_prenatal_exposure_164,
author = {Odaci E and Bas O and Kaplan S},
title = {Effects of prenatal exposure to a 900 MHz electromagnetic field on the dentate gyrus of rats: a stereological and histopathological study.},
year = {2008},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006899308019458},
}