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GSM 900 MHz radiation inhibits ants' association between food sites and encountered cues

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Cammaerts MC, De Doncker P, Patris X, Bellens F, Rachidi Z, Cammaerts D · 2012

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GSM 900 MHz radiation prevented ants from forming associations between food sites and olfactory or visual cues, with a greater impact on visual memory than on olfactory memory.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Researchers studied how GSM 900 MHz radiation affected the ability of the ant Myrmica sabuleti to associate food sites with olfactory and visual cues. During exposure, no association between food and either olfactory or visual cues occurred. After a recovery period, the ants could form associations again but never reached the expected score. Ants that had partially recovered and were exposed again lost all that they had memorized within a few hours, and kept no visual memory at all.

Why This Matters

The study used six experimental colonies of M. sabuleti as a baseline reference, with the actual exposure experiments conducted on six other naive identical colonies. The radiation used in the experiment was described as similar to that surrounding GSM and communication masts. The impact on visual memory was found to be greater than on olfactory memory. The researchers suggested that such results may have implications for a wide range of insects using olfactory and/or visual memory, including bees.

Exposure Details

Power Density
0.0000795 mW/cm²
Electric Field
1 V/m
Source/Device
GSM 900 MHz
Exposure Duration
102 hours

Exposure Context

This study used 0.0000795 mW/cm² for radio frequency:

This study used 1 V/m for electric fields:

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: 0.0000795 mW/cm²Extreme Concern - 1,000 µW/m²FCC Limit - 10M µW/m²Effects observed in the Severe Concern range (Building Biology)FCC limit is 12,579 times higher than this level
A logarithmic frequency spectrum from 10 Hz to 100 GHz showing where this study's 900 MHz exposure sits relative to common EMF sources.Where This Frequency Sits on the EMF SpectrumELFVLFLF / MFHF / VHFUHFSHFmm10 Hz100 GHzThis study: 900 MHzPower lines50/60 Hz5G mm28 GHzLogarithmic scale

Study Details

To examine the effect of GSM 900 MHz exposure on the ants' association between food sites and olfactory and visual cues

The kinetics of the acquisition and loss of the use of olfactory and visual cues were previously obt...

In this situation, no association between food and either olfactory or visual cues occurred. After a...

These communication waves may have such a disastrous impact on a wide range of insects using olfactory and/or visual memory, i.e., on bees

Cite This Study
Cammaerts MC, De Doncker P, Patris X, Bellens F, Rachidi Z, Cammaerts D (2012). GSM 900 MHz radiation inhibits ants' association between food sites and encountered cues Electromagn Biol Med. 31(2):151-165, 2012.
Show BibTeX
@article{mc_2012_gsm_900_mhz_radiation_75,
  author = {Cammaerts MC and De Doncker P and Patris X and Bellens F and Rachidi Z and Cammaerts D},
  title = {GSM 900 MHz radiation inhibits ants' association between food sites and encountered cues},
  year = {2012},
  doi = {10.3109/15368378.2011.624661},
  url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/15368378.2011.624661},
}
DOI: 10.3109/15368378.2011.624661

Cited By (49 papers)

Quick Questions About This Study

The study used the ant Myrmica sabuleti meinert 1861.
After a recovery period, the ants were able to make associations again but never reached the expected score.
Ants that had partially recovered lost all that they had memorized within a few hours and kept no visual memory at all.
The impact of GSM 900 MHz radiation was greater on visual memory than on olfactory memory.
The researchers suggested these communication waves may have a disastrous impact on a wide range of insects using olfactory and/or visual memory, including bees.