Radioprotective effects of honeybee venom (Apis mellifera) against 915-MHz microwave radiation-induced DNA damage in wistar rat lymphocytes: in vitro study.
Gajski G, Garaj-Vrhovac V. · 2009
View Original AbstractBee venom protected rat cells from DNA damage caused by cell phone-level microwave radiation, confirming biological harm occurs at everyday exposure levels.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed rat blood cells to 915-MHz microwave radiation (the same frequency used in some mobile phones) for 4 hours and found it caused DNA damage. However, when they pre-treated the cells with bee venom, it significantly reduced this DNA damage, suggesting bee venom has protective properties against microwave radiation effects.
Why This Matters
This study adds to the growing body of evidence that microwave radiation at levels similar to mobile phone emissions can damage DNA in living cells. The 0.6 W/kg exposure level used here is within the range of typical cell phone SAR values, making these findings directly relevant to everyday device use. What makes this research particularly interesting is the demonstration that natural compounds like bee venom can provide protection against radiation-induced genetic damage. The science demonstrates that oxidative stress plays a key role in how microwave radiation harms cells, which opens doors to understanding both the mechanisms of harm and potential protective strategies. While this doesn't suggest bee venom as a practical solution for consumers, it does reinforce that microwave radiation poses measurable biological risks that warrant precautionary approaches to device use.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 0.6 W/kg
- Source/Device
- 915-MHz
- Exposure Duration
- 4 hours
Exposure Context
This study used 0.6 W/kg for SAR (device absorption):
- 1.5x 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
The aim of this study is to investigate the radioprotective effect of bee venom against DNA damage induced by 915-MHz microwave radiation (specific absorption rate of 0.6 W/kg) in Wistar rats.
Whole blood lymphocytes of Wistar rats are treated with 1 μg/mL bee venom 4 hours prior to and immed...
Bee venom shows a decrease in DNA damage compared with irradiated samples. Parameters of Fpg-modifie...
Bee venom is not genotoxic and does not produce oxidative damage in the low concentrations used in this study.
Show BibTeX
@article{g_2009_radioprotective_effects_of_honeybee_526,
author = {Gajski G and Garaj-Vrhovac V.},
title = {Radioprotective effects of honeybee venom (Apis mellifera) against 915-MHz microwave radiation-induced DNA damage in wistar rat lymphocytes: in vitro study.},
year = {2009},
doi = {10.1177/1091581809335051},
url = {https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1091581809335051},
}