Effect of acute exposure to microwave from mobile phone on DNA damage and repair of cultured human lens epithelial cells in vitro.
Sun LX, Yao K, He JL, Lu DQ, Wang KJ, Li HW. · 2006
View Original AbstractCell phone radiation caused irreversible DNA damage to human eye cells at 4 W/kg SAR, suggesting biological thresholds exist above current safety limits.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed human eye lens cells to cell phone radiation for 2 hours at different power levels. Lower levels caused repairable DNA damage, but higher power (4 W/kg) caused permanent breaks cells couldn't fix, suggesting a threshold where radiation overwhelms natural repair.
Why This Matters
This study reveals something crucial about how our cells respond to mobile phone radiation: there appears to be a tipping point where cellular repair systems get overwhelmed. The researchers found that at 4 W/kg SAR, human eye lens cells suffered irreversible DNA damage, while lower exposures were either harmless or repairable. What makes this particularly relevant is that modern smartphones can reach SAR levels of 1.6 W/kg during calls held against the head. While this study used higher levels, it demonstrates that biological thresholds exist and that our current safety standards may not account for cumulative damage over time. The eye is especially vulnerable because it lacks the blood flow that helps other tissues repair radiation damage, making these findings a window into how EMF affects our most sensitive tissues.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 W/kg
- Source/Device
- 1.8 GHz mobile phone (217 Hz modulated)
- Exposure Duration
- 2h
Exposure Context
This study used 0, 1, 2, 3 and 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
To investigate the DNA damage of human lens epithelial cells (LECs) caused by acute exposure to low-power 217 Hz modulated 1.8 GHz microwave radiation and DNA repair.
Cultured LECs were exposed to 217 Hz modulated 1.8 GHz microwave radiation at SAR (specific absorpti...
The difference in DNA-breaks between the exposure and sham exposure groups induced by 1 and 2 W/kg i...
No or repairable DNA damage was observed after 2 hour irradiation of 1.8 GHz microwave on LECs when SAR < or = 3 W/kg. The DNA damages caused by 4 W/kg irradiation were irreversible.
Show BibTeX
@article{lx_2006_effect_of_acute_exposure_34,
author = {Sun LX and Yao K and He JL and Lu DQ and Wang KJ and Li HW.},
title = {Effect of acute exposure to microwave from mobile phone on DNA damage and repair of cultured human lens epithelial cells in vitro.},
year = {2006},
url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16978512},
}