Effects of 2G and 3G mobile phones on human alpha rhythms: Resting EEG in adolescents, young adults, and the elderly
Croft RJ, Leung S, McKenzie RJ, Loughran SP, Iskra S, Hamblin DL, Cooper NR. · 2010
View Original AbstractMobile phone radiation altered brain waves in young adults but not teenagers or elderly, suggesting age-specific EMF sensitivity patterns.
Plain English Summary
Scientists tested how 2G and 3G cell phone signals affect brain waves in 103 people of different ages during 55-minute exposures. Only young adults showed brain wave changes from 2G signals, while teenagers and elderly showed no effects, suggesting age influences brain sensitivity to phone radiation.
Why This Matters
This study adds an important dimension to our understanding of EMF bioeffects by revealing that age matters when it comes to brain wave responses to mobile phone radiation. The finding that only young adults showed alpha wave changes challenges the common assumption that children are universally more vulnerable to EMF exposure. However, we shouldn't interpret this as evidence that mobile phone radiation is harmless to teens or elderly people. The study only measured one specific brain wave pattern over a relatively short exposure period. The SAR levels used (0.7-1.7 W/kg) are within current regulatory limits but represent significant exposure levels that your brain experiences during typical phone calls held against your head. What this research really demonstrates is how much we still don't understand about EMF bioeffects across different populations and exposure scenarios.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 0.7 and 1.7 W/kg
- Electric Field
- 0.03 V/m
- Source/Device
- 894.6 MHz 2G and 1,900 MHz 3G mobile phones
- Exposure Duration
- continuous for 55 min
Exposure Context
This study used 0.7 and 1.7 W/kg for SAR (device absorption):
- 1.7x 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
The present study was conducted to determine whether adolescents and/or the elderly are more sensitive to mobile phone (MP)‐related bioeffects than young adults, and to determine this for both 2nd generation (2G) GSM, and 3rd generation (3G) W‐CDMA exposures.
To test this, resting alpha activity (8–12 Hz band of the electroencephalogram) was assessed because...
Consistent with previous research, the young adults' alpha was greater in the 2G compared to Sham co...
The results provide further support for an effect of 2G exposures on resting alpha activity in young adults, but fail to support a similar enhancement in adolescents or the elderly, or in any age group as a function of 3G exposure.
Show BibTeX
@article{rj_2010_effects_of_2g_and_82,
author = {Croft RJ and Leung S and McKenzie RJ and Loughran SP and Iskra S and Hamblin DL and Cooper NR.},
title = {Effects of 2G and 3G mobile phones on human alpha rhythms: Resting EEG in adolescents, young adults, and the elderly},
year = {2010},
doi = {10.1002/bem.20583},
url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/bem.20583},
}