Changes in heart rate variability among RF plastic sealer operators.
Wilén J, Wiklund U, Hörnsten R, Sandström M. · 2007
View Original AbstractWorkers exposed to RF plastic sealers showed altered heart rhythms, indicating cardiovascular adaptation to chronic RF exposure.
Plain English Summary
Researchers studied 35 workers who operated radiofrequency plastic sealing machines and compared their heart rhythms to 37 control subjects. They found that RF-exposed workers had altered heart rate patterns during nighttime, including lower heart rates and increased heart rate variability, suggesting changes to their nervous system's control of heart function. These changes appear to represent the body's adaptation to chronic low-level thermal exposure from the RF equipment.
Why This Matters
This study adds important evidence to our understanding of how occupational RF exposure affects cardiovascular function. The fact that workers showed measurable changes in their heart's autonomic control system after chronic exposure to RF plastic sealers demonstrates that even industrial RF sources can produce biological effects. What makes this research particularly relevant is that these workers experienced what the researchers describe as 'long-term low-level thermal exposure' - a scenario that parallels the chronic, low-level RF exposure many of us face daily from wireless devices, though at different frequencies and intensities. The cardiovascular system's apparent adaptation to RF exposure raises questions about what other physiological systems might be similarly affected by our increasingly RF-saturated environment.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.
Study Details
The aim of this study is to investigate Changes in heart rate variability among RF plastic sealer operators.
In a previous study, we showed that operators of radiofrequency (RF) plastic sealers, RF operators (...
We found a significantly increased total HRV and very low frequency (VLF) power during nighttime amo...
This could in turn be due to an adaptation of the thermoregulatory system and the cardiac autonomic modulation to a long-term low-level thermal exposure in the RF operators.
Show BibTeX
@article{j_2007_changes_in_heart_rate_2681,
author = {Wilén J and Wiklund U and Hörnsten R and Sandström M.},
title = {Changes in heart rate variability among RF plastic sealer operators.},
year = {2007},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17004240/},
}