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Brain & Nervous System

Expression of the immediate early gene, c-fos, in fetal brain after whole of gestation exposure of pregnant mice to global system for mobile communication microwaves.

No Effects Found

Finnie JW, Cai Z, Blumbergs PC, Manavis J, Kuchel TR. · 2006

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Pregnant mice exposed to 900 MHz fields at 4 W/kg for 60 minutes daily throughout gestation showed no difference in fetal brain c-fos immunoreactivity compared to controls.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Researchers exposed pregnant mice to 900 MHz fields at 4 W/kg for 60 minutes daily from gestation day 1 to 19. Control mice were sham-exposed or freely mobile without restraint. Fetal brains were examined for c-fos expression in multiple regions using immunohistochemistry. No difference in c-fos immunoreactivity was found between exposed and control fetal brains.

Why This Matters

The study aimed to use c-fos expression as a marker of neural stress in the fetal brain after gestational exposure to mobile telephone-type radiofrequency fields. Fetal heads were collected immediately before birth on day 19 and fixed in paraformaldehyde for paraffin embedding. The researchers concluded that no stress response was detected in the fetal brain using c-fos immunohistochemistry after whole gestation exposure to mobile telephony.

Exposure Details

SAR
4 W/kg
Source/Device
900 MHz
Exposure Duration
60 min/day from day 1 to day 19

Exposure Context

This study used 4 W/kg for SAR (device absorption):

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: 4 W/kgExtreme Concern - 0.1 W/kgFCC Limit - 1.6 W/kgEffects 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 900 MHz exposure sits relative to common EMF sources.Where This Frequency Sits on the EMF SpectrumELFVLFLF / MFHF / VHFUHFSHFmm10 Hz100 GHzThis study: 900 MHzPower lines50/60 Hz5G mm28 GHzLogarithmic scale

Study Details

To study immediate early gene, c-fos, expression as a marker of neural stress after whole of gestation exposure of the fetal mouse brain to mobile telephone-type radiofrequency fields.

Using a purpose-designed exposure system at 900 MHz, pregnant mice were given a single, far-field, w...

c-fos expression was of limited, but consistent, neuroanatomical distribution and there was no diffe...

In this animal model, no stress response was detected in the fetal brain using c-fos immunohistochemistry after whole of gestation exposure to mobile telephony.

Cite This Study
Finnie JW, Cai Z, Blumbergs PC, Manavis J, Kuchel TR. (2006). Expression of the immediate early gene, c-fos, in fetal brain after whole of gestation exposure of pregnant mice to global system for mobile communication microwaves. Pathology. 38(4):333-335, 2006.
Show BibTeX
@article{jw_2006_expression_of_the_immediate_3020,
  author = {Finnie JW and Cai Z and Blumbergs PC and Manavis J and Kuchel TR.},
  title = {Expression of the immediate early gene, c-fos, in fetal brain after whole of gestation exposure of pregnant mice to global system for mobile communication microwaves.},
  year = {2006},
  
  url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16916723/},
}
PubMed: 16916723

Cited By (27 papers)

Quick Questions About This Study

Pregnant mice were exposed to 900 MHz fields at a specific absorption rate of 4 W/kg for 60 minutes per day from gestation day 1 to 19.
The cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, thalamus, hippocampus, midbrain, cerebellum and medulla were examined using c-fos immunohistochemistry.
There was no difference in c-fos immunoreactivity between exposed and control fetal brains.
The researchers concluded that no stress response was detected in the fetal brain using c-fos immunohistochemistry after whole gestation exposure to mobile telephony.
Control mice were either sham-exposed or kept freely mobile in a cage without further restraint.