Effects of exposure to electromagnetic field from 915 MHz radiofrequency identification system on circulating blood cells in the healthy adult rat.
Kim HS, Park JS, Jin YB, Do Choi H, Kwon JH, Pack JK, Kim N, Ahn YH. · 2017
View Original AbstractRFID radiation at cell phone SAR limits significantly altered rat blood cell counts in just two weeks.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed rats to 915 MHz radiofrequency radiation (used in RFID systems) for 8 hours daily over 2 weeks. They found measurable changes in blood cell counts - red blood cells increased while white blood cells decreased, demonstrating RF radiation can alter blood composition at moderate exposure levels.
Why This Matters
This study adds to growing evidence that radiofrequency radiation produces measurable biological effects at exposure levels well below current safety limits. The 2 W/kg exposure level used here is actually at the current SAR limit for cell phones, making these findings directly relevant to everyday device use. What's particularly noteworthy is that the researchers found statistically significant changes in multiple blood parameters after just two weeks of exposure. While the authors downplay the significance by noting the changes were within 'normal physiological ranges,' this misses a crucial point: the fact that RF exposure consistently altered blood cell production suggests the body is responding to this radiation as a stressor. The science demonstrates that our bodies don't simply ignore RF radiation - they react to it in measurable ways.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 2 W/kg
- Source/Device
- 915 MHz
- Exposure Duration
- 8 h per day, 5 days per week, for 2 weeks
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
We investigated whether exposure to the 915 MHz radiofrequency identification (RFID) signal affected circulating blood cells in rats.
Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to RFID at a whole-body specific absorption rate of 2 W/kg for 8 h ...
The number of red blood cells (RBCs) and the values of hemoglobin, hematocrit, and RBC indices were ...
Although the number of circulating blood cells was significantly altered by RFID exposure at a whole-body specific absorption rate of 2 W/kg for 2 weeks, these changes do not necessarily indicate that RFID exposure is harmful, as they were within the normal physiological response range
Show BibTeX
@article{hs_2017_effects_of_exposure_to_1101,
author = {Kim HS and Park JS and Jin YB and Do Choi H and Kwon JH and Pack JK and Kim N and Ahn YH.},
title = {Effects of exposure to electromagnetic field from 915 MHz radiofrequency identification system on circulating blood cells in the healthy adult rat.},
year = {2017},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29171038/},
}