Oxidative and genotoxic effects of 900 MHz electromagnetic fields in the earthworm Eisenia fetida.
Tkalec M, Stambuk A, Srut M, Malarić K, Klobučar GI. · 2013
View Original AbstractEarthworms showed DNA damage from all tested levels of 900 MHz cell phone radiation, with modulated signals causing more harm than continuous exposure.
Plain English Summary
Croatian researchers exposed earthworms to 900 MHz cell phone radiation for 2-4 hours and found significant DNA damage at all tested levels, even the lowest exposure of 10 V/m. The radiation also triggered oxidative stress (cellular damage from harmful molecules) and damaged proteins and fats in the worms' cells. Importantly, modulated signals like those used by cell phones caused even more DNA damage than continuous radiation.
Why This Matters
This study matters because it demonstrates DNA damage from 900 MHz radiation at relatively low exposure levels using a well-established laboratory organism. While earthworms aren't humans, they share fundamental cellular processes with us, and the Comet assay used here is a gold standard for detecting DNA breaks. The finding that modulated signals caused more damage than continuous waves is particularly relevant since cell phones use modulated signals. The exposure levels tested (10-120 V/m) encompass what you might encounter near cell towers or when using wireless devices, though direct comparisons are complex due to different measurement methods. What's striking is that DNA damage occurred at every exposure level tested, with no apparent threshold below which effects disappeared. This adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that current safety standards, which only consider heating effects, may not adequately protect against biological damage from radiofrequency radiation.
Exposure Details
- Electric Field
- 10, 23, 41 and 120 V/m
- Source/Device
- 900 MHz
- Exposure Duration
- 2 h
Exposure Context
This study used 10, 23, 41 and 120 V/m for electric fields:
- 33.3x above the Building Biology guideline of 0.3 V/m
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.
Study Details
In this study the oxidative and genotoxic effects were investigated in earthworms Eisenia fetida exposed in vivo to RF-EMF at the mobile phone frequency (900 MHz).
Earthworms were exposed to the homogeneous RF-EMF at field levels of 10, 23, 41 and 120 V m(-1) for ...
All exposure treatments induced significant genotoxic effect in earthworms coelomocytes detected by ...
Nature of detected DNA lesions and oxidative stress as the mechanism of action for the induction of DNA damage are discussed.
Show BibTeX
@article{m_2013_oxidative_and_genotoxic_effects_575,
author = {Tkalec M and Stambuk A and Srut M and Malarić K and Klobučar GI.},
title = {Oxidative and genotoxic effects of 900 MHz electromagnetic fields in the earthworm Eisenia fetida.},
year = {2013},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23352129/},
}