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 AbstractSix months of cell phone radiation exposure caused persistent brain inflammation in rats at high but achievable exposure levels.
Plain English Summary
French researchers exposed rats to cell phone radiation (GSM 900 MHz) for 6 months and examined their brain tissue for signs of inflammation. They found that high-level exposure (6 W/kg SAR) caused persistent activation of glial cells, which are the brain's immune cells that respond to injury or stress. This suggests the radiation may have caused ongoing brain inflammation even 10 days after exposure ended.
Why This Matters
This study adds to mounting evidence that chronic cell phone radiation exposure can trigger neuroinflammation in the brain. The researchers found glial activation at 6 W/kg SAR, which is significantly higher than typical phone use (around 1-2 W/kg), but importantly, they saw these effects persisting 10 days after exposure ended. This suggests the brain doesn't immediately recover from EMF-induced stress. Glial activation is the brain's inflammatory response to injury or toxins, and chronic neuroinflammation has been linked to neurodegenerative diseases and cognitive decline. What makes this particularly concerning is that the effects were seen after relatively short daily exposures over 6 months. While the SAR levels were higher than typical phone use, many people use their devices for hours daily, potentially accumulating similar exposure doses over time.
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},
}