Evaluation of the Effect of Radiofrequency Radiation Emitted From Wi-Fi Router and Mobile Phone Simulator on the Antibacterial Susceptibility of Pathogenic Bacteria Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli.
Taheri M, Mortazavi SM, Moradi M, Mansouri S, Hatam GR, Nouri F. · 2017
View Original AbstractRF radiation from phones and Wi-Fi routers made disease-causing bacteria resistant to antibiotics, potentially worsening the global antibiotic resistance crisis.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed two types of bacteria (Listeria and E. coli) to radiofrequency radiation from cell phones (900 MHz) and Wi-Fi routers (2.4 GHz) to see if it affected how well antibiotics worked against them. They found that RF exposure made these disease-causing bacteria more resistant to antibiotics, meaning the medications became less effective at killing them. This could have serious implications for treating infections, as it suggests our wireless devices might be contributing to the growing problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Why This Matters
This study reveals a concerning connection between our wireless environment and antibiotic resistance that deserves immediate attention. While we've known for years that bacteria can develop resistance through overuse of antibiotics, this research suggests that the radiofrequency radiation from our phones and Wi-Fi routers may be accelerating this dangerous process. The frequencies tested (900 MHz and 2.4 GHz) are exactly what millions of people are exposed to daily from their mobile devices and home wireless networks. What makes this particularly alarming is that antibiotic resistance is already one of the most serious threats to global health, with the CDC estimating that resistant infections kill at least 35,000 Americans annually. If RF radiation is making bacteria harder to treat, we're potentially facing a double threat where our wireless technology is not only affecting human biology directly, but also making the pathogens that infect us more dangerous.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study. The study examined exposure from: 900 MHz GSM mobile phone radiation and 2.4 GHz(Wi-Fi routers)
Study Details
In this study, we assessed if the exposure to 900 MHz GSM mobile phone radiation and 2.4 GHz radiofrequency radiation emitted from common Wi-Fi routers alters the susceptibility of microorganisms to different antibiotics.
The pure cultures of Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli were exposed to RF-EMFs generated e...
It is also shown that exposure to RF-EMFs within a narrow level of irradiation (an exposure window) ...
Show BibTeX
@article{m_2017_evaluation_of_the_effect_2615,
author = {Taheri M and Mortazavi SM and Moradi M and Mansouri S and Hatam GR and Nouri F.},
title = {Evaluation of the Effect of Radiofrequency Radiation Emitted From Wi-Fi Router and Mobile Phone Simulator on the Antibacterial Susceptibility of Pathogenic Bacteria Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli.},
year = {2017},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28203122/},
}