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Cognitive function and symptoms in adults and adolescents in relation to rf radiation from UMTS base stations

No Effects Found

Riddervold IS, Pedersen GF, Andersen NT, Pedersen AD, Andersen JB, Zachariae R, Mølhave L, Sigsgaard T, Kjaergaard SK. · 2008

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Cell tower radiation showed no acute cognitive impairment in this 45-minute study, though headache reports increased slightly.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Danish researchers exposed 80 people (teenagers and adults) to cell tower radiation at 2.14 GHz for 45 minutes to test whether it affected their thinking abilities and caused symptoms. They found no significant impact on cognitive performance, though participants reported slightly more headaches during exposure compared to fake exposure sessions. The study suggests cell tower radiation at these levels doesn't impair mental function in the short term.

Study Details

This study was designed to investigate the acute effects of radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic fields (EMF) emitted by the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) mobile phone base stations on human cognitive function and symptoms.

Forty adolescents (15–16 years) and 40 adults (25–40 years) were exposed to four conditions: (1) sha...

No statistically significant differences between the UMTS and sham conditions were found for perform...

In conclusion, the primary hypothesis that UMTS radiation reduces general performance in the TMB test was not confirmed. However, we suggest that the hypothesis of subjective symptoms and EMF exposure needs further research.

Cite This Study
Riddervold IS, Pedersen GF, Andersen NT, Pedersen AD, Andersen JB, Zachariae R, Mølhave L, Sigsgaard T, Kjaergaard SK. (2008). Cognitive function and symptoms in adults and adolescents in relation to rf radiation from UMTS base stations Bioelectromagnetics. 29(4):257-267, 2008.
Show BibTeX
@article{is_2008_cognitive_function_and_symptoms_2800,
  author = {Riddervold IS and Pedersen GF and Andersen NT and Pedersen AD and Andersen JB and Zachariae R and Mølhave L and Sigsgaard T and Kjaergaard SK.},
  title = {Cognitive function and symptoms in adults and adolescents in relation to rf radiation from UMTS base stations},
  year = {2008},
  doi = {10.1002/bem.20388},
  url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/bem.20388},
}

Quick Questions About This Study

Danish researchers exposed 80 people (teenagers and adults) to cell tower radiation at 2.14 GHz for 45 minutes to test whether it affected their thinking abilities and caused symptoms. They found no significant impact on cognitive performance, though participants reported slightly more headaches during exposure compared to fake exposure sessions. The study suggests cell tower radiation at these levels doesn't impair mental function in the short term.