Activation of the TRPV1 Thermoreceptor Induced by Modulated or Unmodulated 1800 MHz Radiofrequency Field Exposure.
Ruigrok HJ, Arnaud-Cormos D, Hurtier A , Poque E, de Gannes FP, Ruffié G, Bonnaudin F, Lagroye I, Sojic N, Arbault S, Lévêque P, Veyret B, Percherancier Y · 2018
View Original AbstractRF radiation only activated heat-sensitive cellular channels when it produced measurable heating, finding no evidence of non-thermal activation mechanisms.
Plain English Summary
Researchers tested whether 1800 MHz radiofrequency radiation from wireless devices could activate heat-sensitive cell channels through non-thermal effects. They found RF radiation only activated these channels when it produced actual heating, providing no evidence for non-thermal biological effects at the cellular level.
Why This Matters
This research addresses a fundamental question in EMF science: whether radiofrequency radiation affects cells through mechanisms beyond simple heating. The study used sophisticated real-time monitoring techniques to examine TRPV1 channels, which are crucial for detecting temperature changes in our bodies. While the exposure levels tested (8-32 W/kg) are much higher than typical everyday exposures from phones or Wi-Fi (which range from 0.1-2 W/kg), the findings support the thermal mechanism of RF interaction with cellular receptors. What this means for you is that the study reinforces current understanding that RF radiation's primary biological interaction occurs through heating, though questions remain about other cellular pathways and the cumulative effects of chronic low-level exposures that weren't examined in this research.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 8 and 32 W/kg
- Source/Device
- 1800 MHz
Exposure Context
This study used 8 and 32 W/kg for SAR (device absorption):
- 20x 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 existence of effects of radiofrequency field exposure at environmental levels on living tissues and organisms remains controversial, in particular regarding potential "nonthermal" effects produced in the absence of temperature elevation. Therefore, we investigated whether TRPV1, one of the most studied thermosensitive channels, can be activated by the heat produced by radiofrequency fields and by some specific nonthermal interaction with the fields.
We have recently shown that TRPV1 activation can be assessed in real-time on live cells using the bi...
We showed that, as expected, TRPV1 channels were activated by the heat produced by radiofrequency fi...
Show BibTeX
@article{hj_2018_activation_of_the_trpv1_1302,
author = {Ruigrok HJ and Arnaud-Cormos D and Hurtier A and Poque E and de Gannes FP and Ruffié G and Bonnaudin F and Lagroye I and Sojic N and Arbault S and Lévêque P and Veyret B and Percherancier Y},
title = {Activation of the TRPV1 Thermoreceptor Induced by Modulated or Unmodulated 1800 MHz Radiofrequency Field Exposure.},
year = {2018},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29059001/},
}