2.45 GHz microwave irradiation-induced oxidative stress affects implantation or pregnancy in mice, Mus musculus.
Shahin S, Singh VP, Shukla RK, Dhawan A, Gangwar RK, Singh SP, Chaturvedi CM. · 2013
View Original AbstractLow-level microwave radiation significantly reduced pregnancy success in mice at exposures 50 times below current safety limits.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed female mice to 2.45 GHz microwave radiation (the same frequency used by WiFi and microwave ovens) for 2 hours daily over 45 days, using power levels far below current safety standards. The exposed mice showed significantly reduced pregnancy success, increased DNA damage in brain cells, and widespread oxidative stress throughout their bodies. This suggests that even low-level microwave radiation may interfere with reproductive health through cellular damage mechanisms.
Why This Matters
This study adds to growing evidence that microwave radiation affects reproductive health at exposure levels well below current safety standards. The researchers used a specific absorption rate of 0.023 W/kg, which is roughly 50 times lower than the FCC's limit of 1.6 W/kg for cell phones. What makes this research particularly significant is that it demonstrates clear biological effects at these very low exposure levels, challenging the assumption that non-thermal exposures are harmless. The study found not just reproductive impacts, but system-wide effects including DNA damage and oxidative stress. For women trying to conceive, this research suggests that minimizing exposure to microwave radiation from WiFi routers, cell phones, and other wireless devices may be a prudent precaution. The science demonstrates that our bodies respond to EMF at levels far below what regulators consider safe.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 0.023023 W/kg
- Power Density
- 0.033549 µW/m²
- Source/Device
- 2.45 GHz
- Exposure Duration
- 2 h/day for 45 days
Exposure Context
This study used 0.033549 µW/m² for radio frequency:
- 3.4Mx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.1 μW/m²
- 55.9Kx 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 present experiment was designed to study the 2.45 GHz low-level microwave (MW) irradiation-induced stress response and its effect on implantation or pregnancy in female mice.
Twelve-week-old mice were exposed to MW radiation (continuous wave for 2 h/day for 45 days, frequenc...
We observed that implantation sites were affected significantly in MW-irradiated mice as compared to...
Our findings led us to conclude that a low level of MW irradiation-induced oxidative stress not only suppresses implantation, but it may also lead to deformity of the embryo in case pregnancy continues. We also suggest that MW radiation-induced oxidative stress by increasing ROS production in the body may lead to DNA strand breakage in the brain cells and implantation failure/resorption or abnormal pregnancy in mice.
Show BibTeX
@article{s_2013_245_ghz_microwave_irradiationinduced_1324,
author = {Shahin S and Singh VP and Shukla RK and Dhawan A and Gangwar RK and Singh SP and Chaturvedi CM.},
title = {2.45 GHz microwave irradiation-induced oxidative stress affects implantation or pregnancy in mice, Mus musculus. },
year = {2013},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23334843/},
}