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Symptoms & Sensitivity132 citations

Hypersensitivity symptoms associated with exposure to cellular telephones: No causal link.

No Effects Found

Hietanen M, Hämäläinen A-M, Husman T. · 2002

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People reporting cell phone sensitivity experienced more symptoms during fake exposure than real exposure, suggesting symptoms aren't directly caused by RF radiation.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Finnish researchers tested 20 people who claimed to be sensitive to cell phone radiation by exposing them to both real and fake cell phone signals in controlled conditions. The study found that participants reported more symptoms during fake exposure than real exposure, and none could tell when phones were actually on or off. This suggests that while people genuinely experience symptoms they attribute to cell phones, the phones themselves aren't causing these effects.

Exposure Information

A logarithmic frequency spectrum from 10 Hz to 100 GHz showing where this study's 1.80 GHz exposure sits relative to common EMF sources.Where This Frequency Sits on the EMF SpectrumELFVLFLF / MFHF / VHFUHFSHFmm10 Hz100 GHzThis study: 1.80 GHzPower lines50/60 Hz5G mm28 GHzLogarithmic scale

The study examined exposure from: 900 and 1800 MHz Duration: 30 min, and three or four sessions

Study Details

The hypothesis that there exist hypersensitive persons who perceive subjective symptoms from radiofrequency (RF) fields emitted by hand held mobile phones (cellular phones) was tested using double blind provocation experiments. We also tested whether sensitive subjects are able to determine whether the phone is on or off by sensing RF fields.

The study group consisted of 20 volunteers (13 women and 7 men) who reported themselves as being sen...

The results of the study indicated that various symptoms were reported, and most of them appeared in...

Hence, we conclude that adverse subjective symptoms or sensations, though unquestionably perceived by the test subjects, were not produced by cellular phones.

Cite This Study
Hietanen M, Hämäläinen A-M, Husman T. (2002). Hypersensitivity symptoms associated with exposure to cellular telephones: No causal link. Bioelectromagnetics 23:264-270, 2002.
Show BibTeX
@article{m_2002_hypersensitivity_symptoms_associated_with_3079,
  author = {Hietanen M and Hämäläinen A-M and Husman T.},
  title = {Hypersensitivity symptoms associated with exposure to cellular telephones: No causal link.},
  year = {2002},
  
  url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11948605/},
}
PubMed: 11948605

Cited By (132 papers)

View all 132 citing papers on Semantic Scholar

Quick Questions About This Study

No, Finnish researchers found that 20 people claiming cell phone sensitivity could not distinguish between real 900/1800 MHz radiation and fake exposure. None could tell when phones were actually on or off during controlled testing conditions.
EMF sensitive people reported more symptoms during fake exposure than real exposure in this 2002 Finnish study. Participants experienced more head-region symptoms when they thought phones were on but weren't actually being exposed to radiation.
No, this controlled study concluded that while people genuinely experience symptoms they attribute to cell phones, the phones themselves don't cause these effects. Symptoms occurred more during sham exposure than real 900/1800 MHz radiation.
EMF sensitive people most commonly report symptoms in the head region according to this Finnish research. However, these head symptoms appeared more frequently during fake cell phone exposure than during actual 900/1800 MHz radiation exposure.
Yes, this study suggests psychological factors play a role in EMF sensitivity symptoms. Participants reported more adverse effects when they believed they were exposed to cell phone radiation, even during fake exposure sessions.