Influence of microwave exposure on fertility of male rats.
Kumar S, Kesari KK, Behari J. · 2011
View Original AbstractMale rats showed significant fertility damage from microwave exposure 100 times lower than current cell phone safety limits.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed male rats to 10 GHz microwave radiation for 2 hours daily over 45 days at extremely low power levels (0.014 W/kg SAR). The exposed rats showed significant damage to sperm-producing cells, including increased cell death, DNA damage, and disrupted cell division cycles. This suggests that even very low-level microwave exposure may harm male fertility by damaging the cellular machinery needed for healthy sperm production.
Why This Matters
This study adds important evidence to growing concerns about EMF exposure and male fertility. What makes these findings particularly significant is the extremely low exposure level used - a SAR of 0.014 W/kg is roughly 100 times lower than current cell phone safety limits. The researchers found clear biological damage at the cellular level, including increased reactive oxygen species (cellular stress markers), cell death, and disrupted DNA repair processes in sperm-producing tissue. The reality is that male fertility rates have been declining globally for decades, and studies like this suggest EMF exposure may be one contributing factor. While this was an animal study, the biological mechanisms identified - oxidative stress and cellular damage - are the same processes that occur in human reproductive tissue when exposed to similar radiation.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 0.014 W/kg
- Power Density
- 0.21 µW/m²
- Source/Device
- 10 GHz
- Exposure Duration
- 2 h/d for 45 days continuously
Exposure Context
This study used 0.21 µW/m² for radio frequency:
- 21Mx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.1 μW/m²
- 350Kx above the BioInitiative Report recommendation of 0.0006 μW/cm²
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 aim of this study is to investigate Influence of microwave exposure on fertility of male rats.
The present study investigates the effect of 10-GHz microwave radiation on the fertility pattern of ...
Results show a significant change in the level of reactive oxygen species, histone kinase, apoptotic...
The study concludes that there is a significant effect of microwave radiations on the reproductive pattern in male rats, which is a causative factor of male infertility.
Show BibTeX
@article{s_2011_influence_of_microwave_exposure_1118,
author = {Kumar S and Kesari KK and Behari J.},
title = {Influence of microwave exposure on fertility of male rats.},
year = {2011},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20723534/},
}