Effect of 900 MHz radio frequency radiation on beta amyloid protein, protein carbonyl, and malondialdehyde in the brain
Dasdag S, Akdag MZ, Kizil G, Kizil M, Cakir DU, Yokus B · 2012
View Original AbstractTen months of cell phone-level radiation significantly damaged brain proteins in rats, suggesting chronic phone use may harm neurological health.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed rats to cell phone radiation (900 MHz) for 2 hours daily over 10 months and examined their brains for signs of damage. They found significantly increased protein carbonyl levels, which indicates protein damage from oxidative stress. This suggests that long-term cell phone radiation exposure may harm brain proteins, potentially contributing to neurodegenerative processes.
Why This Matters
This study adds to growing evidence that chronic cell phone radiation exposure can cause molecular damage in the brain. The SAR levels used (0.17 and 0.58 W/kg) are within the range of typical cell phone exposures, making these findings directly relevant to everyday phone use. The significant increase in protein carbonyl is particularly concerning because protein damage is a hallmark of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's. While the researchers also found elevated beta amyloid protein levels (associated with Alzheimer's), this increase wasn't statistically significant. The 10-month exposure duration is notable because it represents chronic, low-level exposure similar to how people actually use phones. The science demonstrates that even relatively low-level RF radiation can trigger oxidative stress pathways that damage essential brain proteins over time.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 0.17 and 0.58 W/kg
- Power Density
- 0.05 and 0.33 µW/m²
- Source/Device
- 900 MHz
- Exposure Duration
- continuous 2 h/day, 7 days/week for 10 months
Exposure Context
This study used 0.05 and 0.33 µW/m² for radio frequency:
- 5Mx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.1 μW/m²
- 83.3Kx 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
We aimed to investigate long-term effects of 900 MHz radiofrequency radiation on beta amyloid protein, protein carbonyl, and malondialdehyde in the rat brain
The study was carried out on 17 Wistar Albino adult male rats. The rat heads in a carousel were expo...
Beta amyloid protein, protein carbonyl, and malondialdehyde levels were found to be higher in the br...
In conclusion, 900 MHz radiation emitted from mobile/cellular phones can be an agent to alter some biomolecules such as protein. However, further studies are necessary
Show BibTeX
@article{s_2012_effect_of_900_mhz_87,
author = {Dasdag S and Akdag MZ and Kizil G and Kizil M and Cakir DU and Yokus B},
title = {Effect of 900 MHz radio frequency radiation on beta amyloid protein, protein carbonyl, and malondialdehyde in the brain},
year = {2012},
doi = {10.3109/15368378.2011.624654},
url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/15368378.2011.624654},
}