Effect of chronic exposure to a GSM-like signal (mobile phone) on survival of female Sprague-Dawley rats: Modulatory effects by month of birth and possibly stage of the solar cycle.
Bartsch H, Küpper H, Scheurlen U, Deerberg F, Seebald E, Dietz K, Mecke D, Probst H, Stehle T, Bartsch C. · 2010
View Original AbstractRats exposed to cell phone radiation for their entire lives showed 9% shorter lifespans, suggesting chronic EMF exposure may have cumulative health effects.
Plain English Summary
German researchers exposed female rats to cell phone radiation (900 MHz) throughout their lives. Exposed rats lived 9% shorter lives than unexposed rats - about 72-77 fewer days. The radiation levels matched typical cell phone exposure, suggesting chronic use might affect human lifespan.
Why This Matters
This study stands out because it followed animals for their entire natural lifespan - something rarely done in EMF research due to the time and cost involved. The 9% reduction in survival time is statistically significant and occurred at radiation levels (0.038-0.08 W/kg SAR) that overlap with typical cell phone exposures during calls. What makes this research particularly compelling is that the first two shorter experiments showed no effects, but the full-lifespan studies revealed clear survival impacts. This suggests that EMF health effects may only become apparent with truly chronic, long-term exposure. The researchers also discovered that environmental factors like birth season and solar cycle activity may modulate EMF effects, highlighting the complex interactions between artificial radiation and natural biological rhythms. While we can't directly extrapolate from rats to humans, this research adds to growing evidence that chronic EMF exposure may have cumulative health consequences that only emerge over decades of exposure.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 0.038 - 0.08 W/kg
- Power Density
- 0.1 µW/m²
- Source/Device
- 900 MHz pulsed with 217 Hz
- Exposure Duration
- 52-70 days of age and continued for 24 (I), 17 (II) and up to 36 and 37 months, respectively (III/IV)
Exposure Context
This study used 0.1 µW/m² for radio frequency:
- 10Mx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.1 μW/m²
- 166.7Kx 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
During 1997-2008 two long-term (I and II) and two life-long (III and IV) experiments were performed analyzing the effect of chronic exposure to a low-intensity GSM-like signal (900 MHz pulsed with 217 Hz, 100 µW/cm² average power flux density, 38-80 mW/kg mean specific absorption rate for whole body) on health and survival of unrestrained female Sprague-Dawley rats kept under identical conditions.
Radiofrequency (RF)-exposure was started at 52-70 days of age and continued for 24 (I), 17 (II) and ...
In experiment I no adverse health effects of chronic RF-exposure were detectable, neither by macrosc...
From the results of the last two experiments it has to be concluded that chronic exposure to a low-intensity GSM-like signal may exert negative health effects and shorten survival if treatment is applied sufficiently long and the observational period covers the full life span of the animals concerned. The current data show that survival of rats kept under controlled laboratory conditions varies within certain limits depending on the month of birth. In view of our previous observations regarding an inhibitory or no effect of RF-exposure on DMBA-induced mammary cancer during the 1997-2000 period, an additional modulatory influence on a year-to-year basis should be considered which might be related to changing solar activity during the the 11-years' sunspot cycle. These potentially complex influences of the natural environment modulating the effects of anthropogenic RF-signals on health and survival require a systematic continuation of such experiments throughout solar cycle 24 which started in 2009.
Show BibTeX
@article{h_2010_effect_of_chronic_exposure_847,
author = {Bartsch H and Küpper H and Scheurlen U and Deerberg F and Seebald E and Dietz K and Mecke D and Probst H and Stehle T and Bartsch C.},
title = {Effect of chronic exposure to a GSM-like signal (mobile phone) on survival of female Sprague-Dawley rats: Modulatory effects by month of birth and possibly stage of the solar cycle.},
year = {2010},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20802457/},
}