Effect of a chronic GSM 900 MHz exposure on glia in the rat brain
Ammari M, Brillaud E, Gamez C, Lecomte A, Sakly M, Abdelmelek H, de Seze R · 2008
View Original AbstractRats chronically exposed to GSM 900 MHz at 6 W/kg showed increased GFAP staining in the brain, suggesting possible astroglia activation, while exposure at 1.5 W/kg did not.
Plain English Summary
Researchers measured GFAP expression in rat brain areas using immunocytochemistry to evaluate glial changes 10 days after chronic exposure to a GSM 900 MHz signal. Rats were exposed 5 days a week for 24 weeks at a brain-averaged SAR of 1.5 W/kg for 45 minutes per day, or at 6 W/kg for 15 minutes per day. Compared with sham or cage control animals, rats exposed at 6 W/kg had increased GFAP stained surface areas (p < 0.05), while exposure at 1.5 W/kg did not increase GFAP expression. The researchers noted that chronic exposure at 6 W/kg may induce persistent astroglia activation in the rat brain, which they described as a sign of a potential gliosis.
Why This Matters
The study looked at several specific brain regions, including the prefrontal cortex, caudate putamen, lateral globus pallidus of striatum, dentate gyrus of hippocampus, and cerebellum cortex. Increased GFAP stained surface areas were seen at 6 W/kg but not at 1.5 W/kg, compared with sham or cage control animals. The researchers described the finding at 6 W/kg as suggesting that astroglia activation "may" occur, stopping short of claiming a definitive causal link.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 1.5 and 6 W/kg
- Source/Device
- GSM 900 MHz
- Exposure Duration
- 5 days/week for 24 weeks (45 min/day,SAR= 1.5 W/kg & 15 min/day,SAR = 6 W/kg)
Exposure Context
This study used 1.5 and 6 W/kg for SAR (device absorption):
- 3.8x 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 study the effect of a chronic GSM 900 MHz exposure on glia in the rat brain.
In this study we measured GFAP expression using immunocytochemistry method, to evaluate glial evolut...
In comparison to sham or cage control animals, rats exposed to chronic GSM signal at 6 W/kg have inc...
Our results indicated that chronic exposure to GSM 900 MHz microwaves (SAR = 6 W/kg) may induce persistent astroglia activation in the rat brain (sign of a potential gliosis).
Show BibTeX
@article{m_2008_effect_of_a_chronic_61,
author = {Ammari M and Brillaud E and Gamez C and Lecomte A and Sakly M and Abdelmelek H and de Seze R},
title = {Effect of a chronic GSM 900 MHz exposure on glia in the rat brain},
year = {2008},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0753332208000619},
}