Electromagnetic fields produced by GSM cellular phones and heart rate variability
Parazzini M, Ravazzani P, Tognola G, Thuróczy G, Molnar FB, Sacchettini A, Ardesi G, Mainardi LT · 2007
View Original AbstractCell phone radiation produced subtle but measurable changes in heart rhythm control, especially during physical stress responses.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed 26 healthy people to cell phone radiation at 900 MHz and measured heart rate variability (how consistently the heart beats). They found subtle changes in heart rhythm patterns, especially when participants stood up, suggesting cell phone signals may affect the nervous system's control of the heart.
Why This Matters
This study adds to a growing body of research suggesting that cell phone radiation may subtly influence our cardiovascular system, even at exposure levels typical of everyday phone use. The 2-watt GSM exposure used here matches what your phone produces during calls, making these findings directly relevant to daily life. What's particularly noteworthy is that the effects appeared strongest during sympathetic nervous system activation - essentially when the body was already under mild stress from standing up. This suggests that EMF exposure might not cause problems on its own, but could amplify the cardiovascular effects of other stressors. While the researchers characterized these as 'weak' interactions, the reality is that even subtle disruptions to heart rate variability can have long-term health implications, as HRV is a key marker of cardiovascular health and stress resilience.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study. The study examined exposure from: 900 MHz (2 W) GSM
Study Details
The study was designed to assess cardiac regulatory mechanism in different autonomic nervous system (ANS) states during exposure to low‐intensity EMF.
In this study, 26 healthy young volunteers were submitted to 900 MHz (2 W) GSM cellular phone exposu...
The analysis of the data show there was no statistically significant effect due to EMF exposure both on main (i.e., RR mean) and most of the other HRV parameters. A weak interaction between some HRV parameters (i.e., SDNN, TINN, and triangular index in time domain and LF power in frequency domain analysis) and RF exposure was observed and this effect seems to be gathered around the sympathetic response to stand.
Show BibTeX
@article{m_2007_electromagnetic_fields_produced_by_1525,
author = {Parazzini M and Ravazzani P and Tognola G and Thuróczy G and Molnar FB and Sacchettini A and Ardesi G and Mainardi LT},
title = {Electromagnetic fields produced by GSM cellular phones and heart rate variability},
year = {2007},
doi = {10.1002/bem.20275},
url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/bem.20275},
}