Neurobiological effects of repeated radiofrequency exposures in male senescent rats.
Bouji M, Lecomte A, Gamez C, Blazy K, Villégier AS. · 2016
View Original AbstractHigh-level cell phone radiation didn't worsen age-related brain problems in rats, but researchers warn longer exposures might tell a different story.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed both young and elderly rats to cell phone radiation (900 MHz) for 45 minutes daily over one month to see if aging brains were more vulnerable to EMF effects. The study found that while elderly rats showed expected age-related brain problems, the radiation exposure didn't make these problems worse. Interestingly, both young and old rats exposed to radiation showed reduced anxiety-like behaviors.
Why This Matters
This study addresses a critical question: are aging brains more susceptible to EMF damage? The researchers used a relatively high SAR of 6 W/kg - significantly higher than the 2 W/kg limit for cell phones in most countries, making this more of a stress test than real-world exposure modeling. While the finding that EMF didn't worsen age-related cognitive decline might seem reassuring, the authors themselves caution against concluding EMF is harmless, noting that longer exposures might yield different results. The unexpected finding that radiation reduced anxiety behaviors actually raises more questions than it answers - behavioral changes from EMF exposure aren't necessarily beneficial, and could indicate neurological disruption. What this study really demonstrates is how much we still don't understand about EMF's effects on the brain, particularly with chronic, long-term exposure patterns that mirror actual human use.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 6 W/kg
- Source/Device
- 900 MHz
- Exposure Duration
- 45 min/day for 1 month
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 tested if mobile phone RF-EMF exposures could exacerbate senescence-typical neurobiological deficits.
Thus, aged (22–24 months) and young (4–6 months) adult male rats were subjected to head RF-EMF expos...
Aged rats presented deficits in spatial learning, exploration, anxiety-related behaviors, and increa...
This study which is the first to assess RF-EMF exposures during late aging did not support the hypothesis of a specific cerebral vulnerability to RF-EMF during senescence. More investigations using longer RF-EMF exposures should be performed to conclude regarding the inoffensiveness of RF-EMF exposures.
Show BibTeX
@article{m_2016_neurobiological_effects_of_repeated_874,
author = {Bouji M and Lecomte A and Gamez C and Blazy K and Villégier AS.},
title = {Neurobiological effects of repeated radiofrequency exposures in male senescent rats.},
year = {2016},
doi = {10.1007/s10522-016-9654-8},
url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10522-016-9654-8},
}