Reactive oxygen species formation is not enhanced by exposure to UMTS 1950 MHz radiation and co-exposure to ferrous ions in Jurkat cells.
Brescia F, Sarti M, Massa R, Calabrese ML, Sannino A, Scarfì MR. · 2009
View Original Abstract3G radiation at cell phone exposure levels produced no oxidative stress in human immune cells, even after 24 hours of exposure.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed human immune cells to 3G cell phone radiation at levels similar to what phones emit, testing whether this radiation creates harmful reactive oxygen species (unstable molecules that can damage cells). Even after 24 hours of exposure, the radiation produced no increase in these damaging molecules and didn't harm cell survival. The study also tested whether radiation might amplify damage from iron compounds, but found no such interaction.
Why This Matters
This study provides important evidence that 3G radiation at realistic exposure levels doesn't trigger oxidative stress, one of the key mechanisms scientists believe could link EMF exposure to health problems. The researchers used SAR levels of 0.5 and 2.0 W/kg, which bracket the 2.0 W/kg limit set by regulators for cell phones. What makes this research particularly valuable is its rigorous methodology and the inclusion of positive controls that confirmed their detection methods were working properly. However, we should note this represents just one study using one cell type. The science demonstrates that different cell types can respond differently to EMF exposure, and oxidative stress may not be the only pathway through which RF radiation could affect biological systems. The reality is that while these findings are reassuring, they don't close the book on potential EMF health effects.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 0.5 and 2.0 W/kg
- Source/Device
- 1950 MHz
- Exposure Duration
- Short (5-60 min) or long (24 h) duration
Exposure Context
This study used 0.5 and 2.0 W/kg for SAR (device absorption):
- 1.3x 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
This study was designed to assess if radiofrequency (RF) radiation induces oxidative stress in cultured mammalian cells when given alone or in combination with ferrous ions (FeSO(4)).
For this purpose the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was measured by flow cytometry in h...
The results obtained indicate that non-thermal RF exposures do not increase spontaneous ROS formatio...
Show BibTeX
@article{f_2009_reactive_oxygen_species_formation_877,
author = {Brescia F and Sarti M and Massa R and Calabrese ML and Sannino A and Scarfì MR.},
title = {Reactive oxygen species formation is not enhanced by exposure to UMTS 1950 MHz radiation and co-exposure to ferrous ions in Jurkat cells.},
year = {2009},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19475646/},
}