Effects of 900MHz radiofrequency on corticosterone, emotional memory and neuroinflammation in middle-aged rats.
Bouji M, Lecomte A, Hode Y, de Seze R, Villégier AS. · 2012
View Original AbstractMiddle-aged brains show increased inflammation and memory changes from cell phone radiation, while young brains show elevated stress hormones.
Plain English Summary
French researchers exposed young and middle-aged rats to cell phone radiation (900 MHz) for 15 minutes to study brain effects. They found that older rats showed increased brain inflammation and enhanced emotional memory, while younger rats had elevated stress hormones. The study reveals that age significantly affects how the brain responds to radiofrequency radiation.
Why This Matters
This research adds crucial insight to our understanding of EMF effects by demonstrating that age matters when it comes to brain vulnerability. The 6 W/kg exposure level used here is significantly higher than typical cell phone use (which ranges from 0.5-2 W/kg), but the finding that middle-aged brains show different inflammatory responses than young adult brains is particularly relevant given our aging population and increasing wireless device use. What makes this study especially noteworthy is that it challenges earlier research findings while revealing age-dependent neurological effects. The enhanced emotional memory in older rats suggests that EMF exposure might affect cognitive processing differently across age groups. The reality is that most EMF research focuses on young adult subjects, yet the majority of heavy cell phone users span all age groups. This study demonstrates why we need more research examining how EMF affects different life stages, particularly as wireless technology becomes ubiquitous across all demographics.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 6 W/kg
- Source/Device
- 900 MHz
- Exposure Duration
- 15 min GSM exposure
Exposure Context
This study used 6 W/kg for SAR (device absorption):
- 15x 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
We studied the reactivity of middle-aged brains to EMF exposure
We assessed the effects of a single 15 min GSM exposure (900 MHz; specific absorption rate (SAR)=6 W...
Our data indicated that, in contrast to previously published work, acute GSM exposure did not induce...
Reproducing these effects and studying their mechanisms may allow a better understanding of mobile phone EMF effects on neurobiological parameters.
Show BibTeX
@article{m_2012_effects_of_900mhz_radiofrequency_873,
author = {Bouji M and Lecomte A and Hode Y and de Seze R and Villégier AS.},
title = {Effects of 900MHz radiofrequency on corticosterone, emotional memory and neuroinflammation in middle-aged rats.},
year = {2012},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22507567/},
}