Effects of electromagnetic radiation from a cellular telephone on epidermal Merkel cells.
Irmak MK, Oztas E, Yagmurca M, Fadillioglu E, Bakir B. · 2003
View Original AbstractCell phone radiation triggered hyperactivity in skin sensory cells, potentially explaining why some people experience tingling or burning from wireless devices.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed rats to 900 MHz radiation from a cellular phone for 30 minutes and examined specialized skin cells called Merkel cells, which help detect touch and pressure. They found significantly increased cellular activity in these sensory cells compared to unexposed rats. This suggests that cell phone radiation may affect the skin's sensory system in ways that could contribute to electromagnetic sensitivity symptoms.
Why This Matters
This study reveals something important that most EMF research overlooks: the skin's sensory system responds to radiofrequency radiation at levels typical of cell phone use. Merkel cells are specialized nerve cells in your skin that detect mechanical stimuli like touch and pressure. When these cells become hyperactive, as this study demonstrates, it could explain why some people report tingling, burning, or other skin sensations when using wireless devices. The 900 MHz frequency used here is essentially identical to what many cell phones still use today. What makes this research particularly significant is that it identifies a specific biological mechanism that could underlie electromagnetic hypersensitivity symptoms. While the wireless industry often dismisses such symptoms as psychosomatic, this study provides cellular-level evidence that RF radiation can indeed affect the body's sensory detection systems. The reality is that your skin contains millions of these specialized cells, and if they're being overstimulated by the radiation from your phone, tablet, or WiFi router, that's a biological response worth taking seriously.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study. The study examined exposure from: 900 MHz Duration: 30 min
Study Details
This study was undertaken to investigate the influence of EMR from a cellular telephone (900 MHz) on Merkel cells in rats.
A group of rats was exposed to a cellular telephone in speech position for 30 min. Another group of ...
Exposure led to significantly higher exocytotic activity in Merkel cells compared with the sham expo...
Show BibTeX
@article{mk_2003_effects_of_electromagnetic_radiation_2230,
author = {Irmak MK and Oztas E and Yagmurca M and Fadillioglu E and Bakir B.},
title = {Effects of electromagnetic radiation from a cellular telephone on epidermal Merkel cells.},
year = {2003},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12641793/},
}