Effects of mobile phone exposure (GSM 900 and WCDMA/UMTS) on polysomnography based sleep quality: An intra- and inter-individual perspective
Danker-Hopfe H, Dorn H, Bolz T, Peter A, Hansen ML, Eggert T, Sauter C · 2015
View Original AbstractThe only consistent finding was an increase of stage R sleep under GSM 900 MHz exposure in 9 of 30 subjects and under WCDMA/UMTS exposure in 10 of 30 subjects.
Plain English Summary
Researchers conducted a double-blind, randomized, sham-controlled cross-over study to examine whether electromagnetic fields from GSM 900 and WCDMA/UMTS devices affected sleep. Thirty healthy young men between 18 and 30 years old were each exposed three times per exposure condition while their sleep was recorded. The only consistent finding across individuals was an increase of stage R sleep under GSM 900 MHz exposure in 9 of 30 subjects and under WCDMA/UMTS exposure in 10 of 30 subjects.
Why This Matters
Sleep was assessed using the American Academy of Sleep Medicine standard, and eight basic sleep variables were considered. At the individual level, RF-EMF effects were observed in 90% of the individuals, and all sleep variables were affected in at least four subjects. Those individual effects went in different directions, showing both improvements and deteriorations across participants. The researchers noted that the increase in stage R sleep in one third of individuals does not necessarily indicate a disturbance of sleep. The authors suggested that the observations may indicate an underlying thermal mechanism of RF-EMF on human REM sleep.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 2 W/kg
- Source/Device
- Mobile Phones:900 MHz GSM and WCDMA/UMTS
- Exposure Duration
- 3 nights of 8 h
Exposure Context
This study used 2 W/kg for SAR (device absorption):
- 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
In a double-blind, randomized, sham-controlled cross-over study possible effects of electromagnetic fields emitted by pulsed Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) 900 and Wideband Code-Division Multiple Access (WCDMA)/Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (WCDMA/UMTS) devices on sleep were analysed.
Thirty healthy young men (range 18–30 years) were exposed three times per exposure condition while t...
Data analyses at the individual level indicate that RF-EMF effects are observed in 90% of the indivi...
The results underline that sleep of individuals can be affected differently. The observations found here may indicate an underlying thermal mechanism of RF-EMF on human REM sleep. Nevertheless, the effect of an increase in stage R sleep in one third of the individuals does not necessarily indicate a disturbance of sleep
Show BibTeX
@article{h_2015_effects_of_mobile_phone_85,
author = {Danker-Hopfe H and Dorn H and Bolz T and Peter A and Hansen ML and Eggert T and Sauter C},
title = {Effects of mobile phone exposure (GSM 900 and WCDMA/UMTS) on polysomnography based sleep quality: An intra- and inter-individual perspective},
year = {2015},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013935115301407},
}