Protective effects of melatonin and caffeic acid phenethyl ester against retinal oxidative stress in long-term use of mobile phone: A comparative study.
Ozguner F, Bardak Y, Comlekci S. · 2006
View Original AbstractCell phone radiation at low levels caused measurable eye damage in this 60-day study, but natural antioxidants provided significant protection.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed rats to cell phone radiation (900 MHz) for 30 minutes daily over 60 days. The radiation caused significant oxidative damage to retinal tissue in the eyes. Two natural antioxidants, melatonin and CAPE, successfully protected against this damage, suggesting potential eye health risks from prolonged phone use.
Why This Matters
This study adds important evidence to the growing body of research on EMF-induced oxidative stress, specifically targeting the eyes - organs we rarely consider when thinking about cell phone radiation exposure. The researchers used a relatively low SAR level of 0.016 W/kg, which is well below current safety limits but still produced measurable biological effects in retinal tissue. What makes this research particularly significant is that it demonstrates both the problem and potential solutions, showing that natural antioxidants can counteract EMF-induced oxidative damage. The reality is that our eyes are constantly exposed to EMF radiation when we hold phones near our faces, and this 60-day exposure protocol mirrors the chronic, daily exposure patterns of typical cell phone users. While this was an animal study, it raises important questions about whether long-term cell phone use might contribute to eye-related health issues through oxidative stress mechanisms.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 0.016, 4 W/kg
- Power Density
- 1.04 µW/m²
- Source/Device
- 900 MHz
- Exposure Duration
- 30 min/day for 60 days
Exposure Context
This study used 1.04 µW/m² for radio frequency:
- 104Mx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.1 μW/m²
- 1.7Mx above the BioInitiative Report recommendation of 0.0006 μW/cm²
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 present study was carried out to compare the efficacy of the protective effects of melatonin and CAPE against retinal oxidative stress due to long-term exposure to 900 MHz EMR emitting mobile phones.
Melatonin and CAPE were administered daily for 60 days to the rats prior to their EMR exposure durin...
Retinal levels of NO and MDA increased in EMR exposed rats while both melatonin and CAPE caused a si...
In conclusion, melatonin and CAPE reduce retinal oxidative stress after long-term exposure to 900 MHz emitting mobile phone. Nevertheless, there was no statistically significant difference between the efficacies of these two antioxidants against to EMR induced oxidative stress in rat retina. The difference was in only GSH-Px activity in rat retina. Melatonin stimulated the retinal GSH-Px activity more efficiently than CAPE did.
Show BibTeX
@article{f_2006_protective_effects_of_melatonin_561,
author = {Ozguner F and Bardak Y and Comlekci S.},
title = {Protective effects of melatonin and caffeic acid phenethyl ester against retinal oxidative stress in long-term use of mobile phone: A comparative study.},
year = {2006},
doi = {10.1007/s11010-006-1267-0},
url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11010-006-1267-0},
}