Effect of long-term mobile communication microwave exposure on vascular permeability in mouse brain.
Finnie JW, Blumbergs PC, Manavis J, Utteridge TD, Gebski V, Davies RA, Vernon-Roberts B, Kuchel TR. · 2002
View Original AbstractLong-term cell phone radiation exposure showed minimal blood-brain barrier disruption in mice, even at levels exceeding typical phone use.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed mice to cell phone radiation (900 MHz) for two years to test blood-brain barrier damage. They found minimal blood vessel leakage in both exposed and control groups, suggesting typical cell phone use may not compromise this critical brain protection system.
Why This Matters
This long-term study addresses one of the most important questions in EMF research: whether mobile phone radiation can compromise the blood-brain barrier, potentially allowing toxins and other harmful substances to enter brain tissue. The researchers used exposure levels ranging from 0.25 to 4.0 W/kg SAR, which spans from below to above typical cell phone exposure levels (current phones typically operate at SAR levels up to 2.0 W/kg). While these results suggest minimal blood-brain barrier disruption, it's worth noting that other studies have found different outcomes using different methodologies and exposure parameters. The reality is that the blood-brain barrier research remains mixed, with some studies showing effects and others, like this one, showing minimal impact. What this means for you is that while this particular study is reassuring, the broader body of research on EMF and brain effects continues to evolve, and precautionary approaches to mobile phone use remain reasonable given the ongoing scientific debate.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 0.25, 1, 2, and 4 W/kg
- Source/Device
- 900 MHz
- Exposure Duration
- 60-minute far-field, whole body exposure on each of 5 days per week for 104 weeks
Where This Falls on the Concern Scale
Study Details
To study the effect of long-term exposure to global system for mobile communication (GSM) radiofrequency fields on vascular permeability in murine brains.
Using a purpose-designed exposure system at 900 MHz, mice were given a 60-minute far-field, whole bo...
In all exposed and control groups, albumin extravasation was minimal, often leptomeningeal, and was ...
These results suggest that prolonged exposure to mobile telephone-type radiation produces negligible disruption to blood-brain barrier integrity at the light microscope level using endogenous albumin as a vascular tracer.
Show BibTeX
@article{jw_2002_effect_of_longterm_mobile_974,
author = {Finnie JW and Blumbergs PC and Manavis J and Utteridge TD and Gebski V and Davies RA and Vernon-Roberts B and Kuchel TR.},
title = {Effect of long-term mobile communication microwave exposure on vascular permeability in mouse brain.},
year = {2002},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12190293/},
}