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Effect of bluetooth headset and mobile phone electromagnetic fields on the human auditory nerve

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Mandalà M, Colletti V, Sacchetto L, Manganotti P, Ramat S, Marcocci A, Colletti L. · 2013

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Bluetooth headset exposure showed no short-term effect on auditory nerve signals, while direct mobile phone exposure significantly reduced signal amplitude and increased latency.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Researchers conducted a study to verify whether Bluetooth devices reduce the auditory nerve effects seen with direct mobile phone electromagnetic field exposure, using the same experimental protocol as a prior investigation. Twelve patients underwent retrosigmoid vestibular neurectomy to treat definite unilateral Ménière's disease while being monitored with acoustically evoked CNAPs during direct mobile phone or Bluetooth headset exposure. Bluetooth electromagnetic fields did not produce any significant change in cochlear nerve activity, while mobile phone electromagnetic fields caused a significant decrease in CNAP amplitude and an increase in latency in all subjects.

Why This Matters

The study took place in a surgical setting, where prior work by the same group had shown that direct cell phone electromagnetic field exposure deteriorates auditory evoked cochlear nerve compound action potentials in humans. The researchers acknowledged that these surgical conditions of exposure differ from those of everyday life, in which various biological tissues may reduce the electromagnetic field affecting the cochlear nerve. The CNAP measurements tracked signal amplitude and latency, both of which were described as very sensitive to electromagnetic fields produced by the tested mobile phone. The researchers suggested these novel findings may have important safety implications.

Exposure Details

SAR
0.82 W/kg
Source/Device
900 MHz mobile phone and 2.4 GHz Bluetooth headset
Exposure Duration
continuous for 5 min

Exposure Context

This study used 0.82 W/kg for SAR (device absorption):

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 Exposure Level in ContextStudy Exposure Level in ContextThis study: 0.82 W/kgExtreme Concern - 0.1 W/kgFCC Limit - 1.6 W/kgEffects observed in the Extreme Concern range (Building Biology)FCC limit is 2 times higher than this level
A logarithmic frequency spectrum from 10 Hz to 100 GHz showing where this study's 900 MHz - 2.40 GHz exposure sits relative to common EMF sources.Where This Frequency Sits on the EMF SpectrumELFVLFLF / MFHF / VHFUHFSHFmm10 Hz100 GHzThis study: 900 MHz - 2.40 GHzPower lines50/60 Hz5G mm28 GHzLogarithmic scale

Study Details

The possibility that long‐term mobile phone use increases the incidence of astrocytoma, glioma and acoustic neuroma has been investigated in several studies. Recently, our group showed that direct exposure (in a surgical setting) to cell phone electromagnetic fields (EMFs) induces deterioration of auditory evoked cochlear nerve compound action potential (CNAP) in humans. To verify whether the use of Bluetooth devices reduces these effects, we conducted the present study with the same experimental protocol.

Twelve patients underwent retrosigmoid vestibular neurectomy to treat definite unilateral Ménière's ...

We found no short‐term effects of Bluetooth EMFs on the auditory nervous structures, whereas direct ...

The outcomes of the present study show that, contrary to the finding that the latency and amplitude of CNAPs are very sensitive to EMFs produced by the tested mobile phone, the EMFs produced by a common Bluetooth device do not induce any significant change in cochlear nerve activity. The conditions of exposure, therefore, differ from those of everyday life, in which various biological tissues may reduce the EMF affecting the cochlear nerve. Nevertheless, these novel findings may have important safety implications.

Cite This Study
Mandalà M, Colletti V, Sacchetto L, Manganotti P, Ramat S, Marcocci A, Colletti L. (2013). Effect of bluetooth headset and mobile phone electromagnetic fields on the human auditory nerve Laryngoscope. 2013 Apr 25. doi: 10.1002/lary.24103.
Show BibTeX
@article{m_2013_effect_of_bluetooth_headset_136,
  author = {Mandalà M and Colletti V and Sacchetto L and Manganotti P and Ramat S and Marcocci A and Colletti L.},
  title = {Effect of bluetooth headset and mobile phone electromagnetic fields on the human auditory nerve},
  year = {2013},
  doi = {10.1002/lary.24103},
  url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/lary.24103},
}
DOI: 10.1002/lary.24103

Cited By (13 papers)

Quick Questions About This Study

Mobile phone electromagnetic field exposure caused a significant decrease in CNAP amplitude and an increase in latency in all subjects.
Bluetooth electromagnetic fields did not induce any significant change in cochlear nerve activity.
Patients were monitored with acoustically evoked cochlear nerve compound action potentials during retrosigmoid vestibular neurectomy.
The researchers noted that the conditions of exposure differ from those of everyday life, in which various biological tissues may reduce the electromagnetic field affecting the cochlear nerve.
The twelve patients had definite unilateral Ménière's disease and were undergoing retrosigmoid vestibular neurectomy to treat it.