Exposure to 835 MHz radiofrequency electromagnetic field induces autophagy in hippocampus but not in brain stem of mice.
Kim JH, Yu DH, Kim HJ, Huh YH, Cho SW, Lee JK, Kim HG, Kim HR. · 2017
View Original AbstractCell phone radiation triggered cellular stress responses in the brain's memory center at twice current safety limits.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed mice to cell phone radiation (835 MHz) for 12 weeks and found it triggered cellular changes specifically in the hippocampus, the brain region controlling memory and learning. The brainstem remained unaffected, suggesting some brain areas are more vulnerable to radiofrequency exposure than others.
Why This Matters
This study adds important evidence to our understanding of how radiofrequency radiation affects the brain at the cellular level. The researchers used an SAR of 4.0 W/kg, which is twice the current FCC safety limit of 1.6 W/kg for cell phones in the US. What's particularly significant is that the effects were region-specific, occurring only in the hippocampus, which is crucial for memory formation and learning. The fact that autophagy was triggered suggests the brain cells were responding to stress from the RF exposure. While autophagy can be protective in the short term, chronic activation may indicate ongoing cellular damage. The science demonstrates that RF radiation isn't biologically inert as wireless industry claims suggest, and the hippocampus appears to be a particularly vulnerable target.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 4 W/kg
- Source/Device
- 835 MHz
- Exposure Duration
- 12 weeks
Exposure Context
This study used 4 W/kg for SAR (device absorption):
- 10x 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
In the present study, we explored whether autophagy is triggered in the hippocampus or brain stem after RF-EMF exposure.
C57BL/6 mice were exposed to 835 MHz RF-EMF with specific absorption rates (SAR) of 4.0 W/kg for 12 ...
Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis demonstrated that several autoph...
These results could suggest that among the various adaptation processes to the RF-EMF exposure environment, autophagic degradation is one possible mechanism in specific brain regions.
Show BibTeX
@article{jh_2017_exposure_to_835_mhz_1103,
author = {Kim JH and Yu DH and Kim HJ and Huh YH and Cho SW and Lee JK and Kim HG and Kim HR.},
title = {Exposure to 835 MHz radiofrequency electromagnetic field induces autophagy in hippocampus but not in brain stem of mice.},
year = {2017},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29166827/},
}