High-Frequency Hearing Loss Among Mobile Phone Users
Velayutham P, Govindasamy GK, Raman R, Prepageran N, Ng KH · 2014
View Original AbstractMobile phone users show measurable high-frequency hearing loss in their dominant phone ear compared to their other ear.
Plain English Summary
Researchers compared hearing in 100 mobile phone users by testing the ear they typically hold their phone against versus their other ear. They found significant high-frequency hearing loss (above 8 kHz) in the dominant phone ear compared to the non-dominant ear. This suggests that chronic mobile phone use may cause measurable hearing damage at frequencies above normal hearing tests.
Why This Matters
This study provides compelling evidence that mobile phone radiation can cause measurable biological damage in real-world users. What makes this research particularly significant is the clever study design - comparing each person's phone ear to their non-phone ear eliminates many variables that plague EMF research. The fact that researchers couldn't even find enough non-users for a control group speaks to how ubiquitous phone use has become. The science demonstrates that the radiofrequency radiation from phones isn't just theoretical - it's causing detectable hearing loss at frequencies crucial for understanding speech in noisy environments. While standard hearing tests only go up to 8 kHz, this study tested higher frequencies where damage appears first, suggesting that current medical screenings may miss early EMF-related hearing loss.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.
Study Details
The objective of this study is to assess high frequency hearing (above 8 kHz) loss among prolonged mobile phone users is a tertiary Referral Center.
Prospective single blinded study. This is the first study that used high-frequency audiometry. The w...
This study showed that there is significant loss in the dominant ear compared to the non-dominant ea...
Show BibTeX
@article{p_2014_highfrequency_hearing_loss_among_1545,
author = {Velayutham P and Govindasamy GK and Raman R and Prepageran N and Ng KH},
title = {High-Frequency Hearing Loss Among Mobile Phone Users},
year = {2014},
url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12070-011-0406-4},
}