Increased levels of numerical chromosome aberrations after in vitro exposure of human peripheral blood lymphocytes to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields for 72 hours.
Mazor R, Korenstein-Ilan A, Barbul A, Eshet Y, Shahadi A, Jerby E, Korenstein R. · 2008
View Original AbstractHuman blood cells exposed to radiofrequency fields at 800 MHz for 72 hours showed increased levels of chromosome number abnormalities, suggesting a possible athermal effect.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed human peripheral blood lymphocytes from 10 samples to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields at 800 MHz for 72 hours in a waveguide resonator at specific absorption rates of 2.9 and 4.1 W/kg. The study found increased levels of aneuploidy depending on the chromosome studied and the level of exposure, with chromosomal gains appearing to be the primary contributor. Temperature was tested over a range of 33.5–40°C for 72 hours and showed no statistically significant difference in aneuploidy levels compared to 37°C, suggesting the effect may not be due to heating.
Why This Matters
The induced aneuploidy of chromosomes 1, 10, 11 and 17 was determined by interphase FISH using semi-automated image analysis. For chromosomes 1 and 10, increased aneuploidy was observed at the higher SAR, while for chromosomes 11 and 17, increases were observed only at the lower SAR. Because the temperature control experiment showed no significant difference in aneuploidy across the tested temperature range, the researchers suggested the observed effects may not simply result from heating of the cells. The researchers noted that their results contribute to assessing potential health risks after continuous chronic exposure to RF radiation at SARs close to levels set by ICNIRP guidelines.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 2.9 and 4.1 W/kg
- Source/Device
- 800 MHz, continuous wave
- Exposure Duration
- 72h
Exposure Context
This study used 2.9 and 4.1 W/kg for SAR (device absorption):
- 7.2x 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
To investigate the increased levels of numerical chromosome aberrations after in vitro exposure of human peripheral blood lymphocytes to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields for 72 hours.
We investigated the effects of 72 h in vitro exposure of 10 human lymphocyte samples to radiofrequen...
We observed increased levels of aneuploidy depending on the chromosome studied as well as on the lev...
These results contribute to the assessment of potential health risks after continuous chronic exposure to RF radiation at SARs close to the current levels set by ICNIRP guidelines.
Show BibTeX
@article{r_2008_increased_levels_of_numerical_18,
author = {Mazor R and Korenstein-Ilan A and Barbul A and Eshet Y and Shahadi A and Jerby E and Korenstein R.},
title = {Increased levels of numerical chromosome aberrations after in vitro exposure of human peripheral blood lymphocytes to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields for 72 hours.},
year = {2008},
url = {https://meridian.allenpress.com/radiation-research/article-abstract/169/1/28/42575/Increased-Levels-of-Numerical-Chromosome},
}