Psychomotor performance is not influenced by brief repeated exposures to mobile phones.
Curcio G, Valentini E, Moroni F, Ferrara M, De Gennaro L, Bertini M · 2008
View Original AbstractBrief cell phone exposures at 0.5 W/kg SAR didn't impair motor skills, but effects from different signal types remain unknown.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed 24 people to cell phone radiation (902.40 MHz at 0.5 W/kg SAR) for three 15-minute sessions and tested their reaction times and finger coordination after each exposure. They found no statistically significant effects on these motor skills, though there was a slight trend toward faster reaction times. The study suggests that brief, repeated cell phone exposures don't appear to impair basic motor performance.
Why This Matters
This study provides reassuring data about one specific aspect of cell phone exposure - that brief sessions don't appear to harm basic motor skills like reaction time or finger coordination. The 0.5 W/kg SAR level tested is actually lower than many modern smartphones, which can reach 1.6 W/kg in the US. However, the researchers themselves acknowledge a critical limitation: their findings only apply to these specific exposure conditions and signal characteristics. What this means for you is that while this particular study found no motor impairment, it doesn't address the broader picture of EMF health effects. The science on EMF and cognitive function remains mixed, with some studies showing effects on attention, memory, and other brain functions under different exposure conditions.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 0.5 W/kg
- Source/Device
- 902.40 MHz, 217 Hz modulated
- Exposure Duration
- 3- 15 minutes
Exposure Context
This study used 0.5 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
The present study investigated the presence of a cumulative effect of brief and repeated exposures to a GSM mobile phone (902.40 MHz, 217 Hz modulated; peak power of 2 W; average power of 0.25 W; SAR = 0.5 W/kg) on psychomotor functions.
To this end, after each of 3 15-min exposures, both an acoustic simple reaction time task (SRTT) and...
The present study was unable to detect the cumulative effects of brief and repeated EMF exposure on ...
In summary, these data show an absence of effects with these particular exposure conditions; however, possible cognitive effects induced by different signal characteristics cannot be excluded.
Show BibTeX
@article{g_2008_psychomotor_performance_is_not_914,
author = {Curcio G and Valentini E and Moroni F and Ferrara M and De Gennaro L and Bertini M},
title = {Psychomotor performance is not influenced by brief repeated exposures to mobile phones.},
year = {2008},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18163437/},
}