Changes in cellular proteins due to environmental non-ionizing radiation. I. Heat-shock protiens
S. Kwee, P. Raskmark & S. Velizarov · 2001
View Original AbstractCells produced stress proteins from cell phone-type radiation at levels 800 times below safety limits, suggesting non-thermal biological effects.
Plain English Summary
Danish researchers exposed human cells to weak 960 MHz microwave radiation (similar to cell phones) at extremely low power levels for 20 minutes. They found that cells produced significantly more heat-shock proteins (Hsp-70), which are cellular stress markers, even though the radiation was too weak to cause any heating. This suggests that cells can detect and respond to radiofrequency radiation through non-thermal biological mechanisms.
Why This Matters
This study provides compelling evidence that cells respond to radiofrequency radiation through mechanisms that have nothing to do with heating. The exposure level of 2.1 mW/kg is roughly 800 times lower than current safety limits, yet still triggered a measurable stress response in human cells. Heat-shock proteins are the cellular equivalent of an alarm system - they're produced when cells detect threats to their normal function. The fact that cells activated this stress response at such low power levels challenges the fundamental assumption underlying current safety standards: that RF radiation is only harmful when it heats tissue. What this means for you is that your cell phone may be triggering cellular stress responses even during normal use, since typical phone exposures can be 100 times higher than what caused effects in this study.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 0.0021 W/kg
- Source/Device
- 960 Mhz
- Exposure Duration
- 20 min
Where This Falls on the Concern Scale
Study Details
This paper describes the effect of weak microwave fields on the amounts of heat-shock proteins in cell cultures at various temperatures.
The field was generated by signal simulation of the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) of...
The heat-shock proteins Hsp-70 and Hsp-27 were detected by immuno-fluorescence. Higher amounts of Hs...
Show BibTeX
@article{kwee_2001_changes_in_cellular_proteins_1069,
author = {S. Kwee and P. Raskmark & S. Velizarov},
title = {Changes in cellular proteins due to environmental non-ionizing radiation. I. Heat-shock protiens},
year = {2001},
doi = {10.1081/JBC-100104139},
url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1081/JBC-100104139},
}