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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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Self-reported hypersensitive volunteers reported more symptoms during sham exposure than during real RF exposure and could not distinguish real from sham exposure.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

The study tested the hypothesis that hypersensitive persons perceive symptoms from RF fields using double blind provocation experiments. Twenty volunteers who reported sensitivity to cellular phones participated. Exposure sources were one analogue NMT phone at 900 MHz and two digital GSM phones at 900 and 1800 MHz. Each test session lasted 30 minutes with three or four sessions in random order per day. More symptoms were reported during sham exposure than during real exposure, and no subject could distinguish real from sham exposure.

Why This Matters

The researchers also tested whether sensitive subjects could tell if a phone was on or off by sensing RF fields. Most reported symptoms appeared in the head region.

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

Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study. 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)

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Quick Questions About This Study

The study used double blind provocation experiments with 20 volunteers who reported sensitivity to cellular phones.
The sources were one analogue NMT phone at 900 MHz and two digital GSM phones at 900 and 1800 MHz.
More symptoms were reported during sham exposure than during real exposure, and no subject could distinguish real from sham exposure.
They concluded that the perceived symptoms were not produced by cellular phones.
Subjects reported symptoms as soon as they perceived abnormal feelings, and blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing frequency were monitored every 5 minutes.