The effects of prenatal exposure to a 900-MHz electromagnetic field on the 21-day-old male rat heart.
Türedi S, Hancı H, Topal Z, Unal D, Mercantepe T, Bozkurt I, Kaya H, Odacı E. · 2014
View Original AbstractCell phone radiation during pregnancy caused permanent heart damage in offspring at exposure levels similar to everyday mobile phone use.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed pregnant rats to cell phone radiation (900 MHz) daily during late pregnancy. Their male offspring showed significant heart damage at 21 days old, including cellular stress, abnormal heart muscle fibers, and damaged mitochondria. This suggests prenatal cell phone exposure may harm developing hearts.
Why This Matters
This research adds to growing evidence that prenatal EMF exposure can cause lasting damage to developing organs. The 900 MHz frequency studied is identical to what many cell phones emit, and the exposure level (13.77 V/m) is well within the range of what pregnant women experience when using mobile devices. What makes this study particularly concerning is that it demonstrates clear structural damage to heart tissue, not just biochemical changes. The researchers found damaged mitochondria and disrupted heart muscle fibers in the offspring, suggesting that EMF exposure during critical developmental windows may have permanent consequences. The science demonstrates that the developing fetus is especially vulnerable to EMF exposure, and this study provides concrete evidence of cardiac harm that persists after birth.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 0.025 W/kg
- Electric Field
- 13.77 V/m
- Source/Device
- 900 MHz
- Exposure Duration
- (1 h/d) on days 13-21 of pregnancy
Exposure Context
This study used 13.77 V/m for electric fields:
- 45.9x above the Building Biology guideline of 0.3 V/m
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 purpose of this study was to investigate the effects on rat pup heart tissue of prenatal exposure to a 900 megahertz (MHz) EMF.
For this purpose, pregnant rats were divided into experimental and control groups. Experimental grou...
Malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase and catalase values were significantly higher in the experimen...
Our study results suggest that exposure to EMF in the prenatal period causes oxidative stress and histopathological changes in male rat pup heart tissue.
Show BibTeX
@article{s_2014_the_effects_of_prenatal_576,
author = {Türedi S and Hancı H and Topal Z and Unal D and Mercantepe T and Bozkurt I and Kaya H and Odacı E.},
title = {The effects of prenatal exposure to a 900-MHz electromagnetic field on the 21-day-old male rat heart.},
year = {2014},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25166431/},
}