Enhancement of chemically induced reactive oxygen species production and DNA damage in human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells by 872MHz radiofrequency radiation.
Luukkonen J, Hakulinen P, Mäki-Paakkanen J, Juutilainen J, Naarala J. · 2009
View Original AbstractContinuous-wave 872 MHz radiofrequency radiation enhanced chemically induced ROS production and DNA damage in human neuroblastoma cells, but a GSM-modulated signal did not.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells to 872 MHz radiofrequency radiation at 5 W/kg for 1 hour, combined with menadione, a chemical that induces intracellular ROS production and DNA damage. Continuous-wave RF radiation increased DNA breakage compared to cells exposed only to menadione, and ROS levels were higher at 30 and 60 minutes after exposure ended. No effects of the GSM signal were seen on either ROS production or DNA damage.
Why This Matters
Both continuous waves (CW) and a pulsed signal similar to that used in GSM mobile phones were used in the experiments. ROS production was measured using the fluorescent probe dichlorofluorescein and DNA damage was evaluated by the Comet assay. Control cultures were sham exposed. The researchers suggest that 872 MHz CW RF radiation at 5 W/kg might enhance chemically induced ROS production and thus cause secondary DNA damage. They noted there is no known mechanism that would explain such effects from CW RF radiation but not from GSM modulated RF radiation at identical SAR.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 5 W/kg
- Source/Device
- 872 MHz RF
- Exposure Duration
- 1h
Exposure Context
This study used 5 W/kg for SAR (device absorption):
- 12.5x 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
The objective of the study was to investigate effects of 872 MHz radiofrequency (RF) radiation on intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and DNA damage at a relatively high SAR value (5 W/kg).
The experiments involved combined exposure to RF radiation and menadione, a chemical inducing intrac...
The results of the present study suggest that 872 MHz CW RF radiation at 5 W/kg might enhance chemically induced ROS production and thus cause secondary DNA damage. However, there is no known mechanism that would explain such effects from CW RF radiation but not from GSM modulated RF radiation at identical SAR.
Show BibTeX
@article{j_2009_enhancement_of_chemically_induced_16,
author = {Luukkonen J and Hakulinen P and Mäki-Paakkanen J and Juutilainen J and Naarala J.},
title = {Enhancement of chemically induced reactive oxygen species production and DNA damage in human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells by 872MHz radiofrequency radiation.},
year = {2009},
url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0027510708003199},
}