Nerve cell damage in mammalian brain after exposure to microwaves from GSM mobile phones.
Salford LG, Brun AR, Eberhardt JL, Malmgren L, Persson BRR · 2003
View Original AbstractTwo hours of cell phone radiation caused significant brain cell damage in rats, suggesting our daily mobile phone use may physically harm neurons.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed rats to cell phone radiation (GSM signals) for 2 hours and found significant damage to brain neurons in key regions including the cortex, hippocampus, and basal ganglia. This builds on their previous work showing that the same type of radiation causes the blood-brain barrier (the brain's protective shield) to leak. The study provides direct evidence that mobile phone radiation can physically damage brain cells in living mammals.
Why This Matters
This research represents a critical piece of the EMF health puzzle because it demonstrates actual physical damage to brain tissue, not just functional changes. The Salford team's work is particularly significant because they've shown a clear progression: first the blood-brain barrier breaks down under EMF exposure, then brain cells themselves suffer damage. What makes this especially concerning is that the researchers used GSM signals, the same technology in your cell phone. While we don't have the specific power levels from this study, Salford's broader research program typically used exposures comparable to or lower than what you experience during a phone call. The fact that just 2 hours of exposure produced 'highly significant' neuronal damage in multiple brain regions should give us pause about our daily EMF exposures.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study. Duration: 2 hr
Study Details
The possible risks of radio-frequency electromagnetic fields for the human body is a growing concern for the society. We have earlier shown that weak pulsed microwaves give rise to a significant leakage of albumin through the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Now we have investigated whether a pathological leakage over the BBB might be combined with damage to the neurons.
Three groups each of eight rats were exposed for 2 hr to Global System for Mobile Communications (GS...
We found highly significant (p< 0.002) evidence for neuronal damage in the cortex, hippocampus, and basal ganglia in the brains of exposed rats.
Show BibTeX
@article{lg_2003_nerve_cell_damage_in_2562,
author = {Salford LG and Brun AR and Eberhardt JL and Malmgren L and Persson BRR},
title = {Nerve cell damage in mammalian brain after exposure to microwaves from GSM mobile phones.},
year = {2003},
url = {https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1241519/},
}