Electromagnetic noise inhibits radiofrequency radiation-induced DNA damage and reactive oxygen species increase in human lens epithelial cells.
Yao K, Wu W, Wang K, Ni S, Ye P, Yu Y, Ye J, Sun L. · 2008
View Original AbstractSuperposing 2 μT electromagnetic noise blocked radiofrequency-induced reactive oxygen species increase and DNA damage in human lens epithelial cells.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed cultured human lens epithelial cells (HLECs) to a 1.8 GHz GSM radiofrequency field for 2 hours at specific absorption rates of 1, 2, 3, and 4 W/kg, then measured intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and DNA damage. After exposure to 1.8 GHz RF for 2 h, HLECs exhibited significant intracellular ROS increase in the 2, 3, and 4 W/kg groups, and RF at 3 W/kg and 4 W/kg induced significant DNA damage consisting mainly of single strand breaks. When the radiofrequency field was superposed with 2 μT electromagnetic noise, the noise blocked the RF-induced ROS increase and DNA damage.
Why This Matters
The study used an alkaline comet assay to detect DNA damage, which primarily reveals single strand breaks. Double strand breaks were evaluated separately using γH2AX foci formation, and no statistically significant difference was found between RF-exposed and sham-exposed groups at 3 and 4 W/kg. The researchers suggested that the DNA damage, which was mainly single strand breaks, may be associated with the increased ROS production. The goal of the study was to investigate whether superposing electromagnetic noise could block or attenuate the RF-induced effects in cultured human lens epithelial cells.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- 0.002 mT
- SAR
- 1, 2, 3 & 4 W/kg
- Source/Device
- 1.8 GHz GSM(217 Hz amplitude-modulated) and noise MF
- Exposure Duration
- 2h
Exposure Context
This study used 0.002 mT for magnetic fields:
- 100x above the Building Biology guideline of 0.2 mG
- 20x above the BioInitiative Report recommendation of 1 mG
This study used 1, 2, 3 & 4 W/kg for SAR (device absorption):
- 2.5x 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 goal of this study was to investigate whether superposing of electromagnetic noise could block or attenuate DNA damage and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) increase of cultured human lens epithelial cells (HLECs) induced by acute exposure to 1.8 GHz radiofrequency field (RF) of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM).
An sXc-1800 RF exposure system was used to produce a GSM signal at 1.8 GHz (217 Hz amplitude-modulat...
After exposure to 1.8 GHz RF for 2 h, HLECs exhibited significant intracellular ROS increase in the ...
DNA damage induced by 1.8 GHz radiofrequency field for 2 h, which was mainly SSBs, may be associated with the increased ROS production. Electromagnetic noise could block RF-induced ROS formation and DNA damage.
Show BibTeX
@article{k_2008_electromagnetic_noise_inhibits_radiofrequency_22,
author = {Yao K and Wu W and Wang K and Ni S and Ye P and Yu Y and Ye J and Sun L.},
title = {Electromagnetic noise inhibits radiofrequency radiation-induced DNA damage and reactive oxygen species increase in human lens epithelial cells.},
year = {2008},
url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2391079/},
}