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Brain & Nervous System

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.

Why This Matters

This well-designed Danish study provides reassuring evidence about cognitive effects from cell tower exposure, though it has important limitations. The 45-minute exposure duration, while longer than many studies, still represents acute rather than chronic exposure patterns that characterize real-world cell tower proximity. The power density of 2.6 W/m² used here is significantly higher than typical environmental levels from distant cell towers, which usually measure in the milliwatts per square meter range. What's notable is the slight increase in headache reports, which aligns with a growing body of research documenting subjective symptoms even when objective cognitive measures show no change. The reality is that this single study, while methodologically sound, cannot definitively rule out longer-term cognitive effects or impacts in more sensitive populations.

Exposure Details

Power Density
2.6 mW/cm²
Electric Field
2.2,1.5,0.9 V/m
Source/Device
2,140 MHz
Exposure Duration
45 min

Exposure Context

This study used 2.6 mW/cm² for radio frequency:

This study used 2.2,1.5,0.9 V/m for electric fields:

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 Exposure Level in ContextStudy Exposure Level in ContextThis study: 2.6 mW/cm²Extreme Concern - 1,000 µW/m²FCC Limit - 10M µW/m²Effects observed in the Extreme Concern range (Building Biology)This level is 3 times the FCC limit
A logarithmic frequency spectrum from 10 Hz to 100 GHz showing where this study's 2.14 GHz exposure sits relative to common EMF sources.Where This Frequency Sits on the EMF SpectrumELFVLFLF / MFHF / VHFUHFSHFmm10 Hz100 GHzThis study: 2.14 GHzPower lines50/60 Hz5G mm28 GHzLogarithmic scale

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},
}
DOI: 10.1002/bem.20388

Cited By (55 papers)

View all 55 citing papers on Semantic Scholar

Quick Questions About This Study

Danish researchers found no significant impact on cognitive performance when 80 people were exposed to 2.14 GHz UMTS cell tower radiation for 45 minutes. Mental tasks and thinking abilities remained unchanged, though participants reported slightly more headaches during real versus fake exposure sessions.
A 2008 study found teenagers and adults reported increased headache ratings when exposed to 2.14 GHz UMTS base station radiation compared to sham exposure. However, researchers noted this effect might be due to baseline differences rather than the radiation itself.
The Danish UMTS study exposed participants to 2.14 GHz cell tower radiation for 45 minutes to test cognitive effects. This duration was sufficient to measure potential short-term impacts on thinking abilities, though no significant cognitive changes were found.
Research testing 2140 MHz UMTS cell tower radiation found no statistically significant differences in mental performance between real and fake exposure sessions. The study specifically tested Trail Making Test performance in both teenagers and adults with negative results.
The 2008 Danish study found no significant difference in cognitive sensitivity between teenagers and adults exposed to 2.14 GHz UMTS radiation. Both age groups showed similar non-significant responses, with teenagers showing a 5.5% performance change versus adults' -3.2% change.