Exposure to radiation from global system for mobile communications at 1,800 MHz significantly changes gene expression in rat hippocampus and cortex.
Nittby H, Widegren B, Krogh M, Grafström G, Berlin H, Rehn G, Eberhardt JL, Malmgren L, Persson BRR, Salford L · 2008
View Original AbstractSix hours of cell phone radiation significantly altered brain gene expression at exposure levels considered safe by current standards.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed rats to cell phone radiation at 1,800 MHz for 6 hours and found significant changes in brain gene activity. The genetic alterations affected genes controlling cell membranes and cellular communication in the cortex and hippocampus, the same brain regions where previous studies documented blood-brain barrier damage.
Why This Matters
This study provides molecular evidence for what the Salford research team had been documenting for years - that cell phone radiation causes measurable biological changes in the brain. The fact that gene expression patterns shifted significantly after just 6 hours of exposure at levels well within current safety limits (30 mW/kg brain SAR) should raise serious questions about our regulatory framework. What makes this research particularly compelling is that the genetic changes occurred in the exact same brain regions where these researchers had previously found blood-brain barrier leakage and neuronal damage. The science demonstrates a clear biological pathway: RF radiation alters gene expression in ways that affect cellular membranes, potentially explaining the barrier breakdown they observed. This isn't just correlation - it's a mechanistic understanding of how wireless radiation affects brain tissue at the molecular level.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 0.013, 0.03 W/kg
- Source/Device
- 1,800 MHz GSM mobile test phone
- Exposure Duration
- 6 h
Where This Falls on the Concern Scale
Study Details
We have now studied whether 6 h of exposure to the radiation from a GSM mobile test phone at 1,800 MHz (at a whole-body SAR-value of 13 mW/kg, corresponding to a brain SAR-value of 30 mW/kg) has an effect upon the gene expression pattern in rat brain cortex and hippocampus—areas where we have observed albumin leakage from capillaries into neurons and neuronal damage.
Microarray analysis of 31,099 rat genes, including splicing variants, was performed in cortex and hi...
Gene ontology analysis (using the gene ontology categories biological processes, molecular functions...
The fact that most of these categories are connected with membrane functions may have a relation to our earlier observation of albumin transport through brain capillaries.
Show BibTeX
@article{h_2008_exposure_to_radiation_from_1228,
author = {Nittby H and Widegren B and Krogh M and Grafström G and Berlin H and Rehn G and Eberhardt JL and Malmgren L and Persson BRR and Salford L},
title = {Exposure to radiation from global system for mobile communications at 1,800 MHz significantly changes gene expression in rat hippocampus and cortex.},
year = {2008},
doi = {10.1007/s10669-008-9170-8},
url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10669-008-9170-8},
}