Note: This study found no significant biological effects under its experimental conditions. We include all studies for scientific completeness.
No increased sensitivity in brain activity of adolescents exposed to mobile phone-like emissions
Loughran SP, Benz DC, Schmid MR, Murbach M, Kuster N, Achermann P. · 2013
View Original AbstractAdolescents showed no immediate brain or cognitive effects from 30-minute cell phone radiation exposure at typical usage levels.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed 22 adolescents (ages 11-13) to cell phone-like radiation at two different power levels for 30 minutes while measuring brain activity and cognitive performance. They found no significant effects on brain waves or thinking abilities compared to fake exposure sessions. This suggests adolescents may not be more sensitive to mobile phone radiation than previously thought.
Why This Matters
This study challenges the widespread assumption that children and teenagers are inherently more vulnerable to cell phone radiation effects. The research used exposure levels of 1.4 and 0.35 watts per kilogram, with the higher level exceeding typical phone use but remaining within regulatory limits. What makes this particularly noteworthy is that previous studies in adults had shown measurable brain activity changes, yet this carefully controlled study found no such effects in adolescents. However, one study cannot definitively settle the question of youth vulnerability to EMF. The reality is that children's developing nervous systems and thinner skulls could still make them more susceptible to long-term effects that wouldn't show up in a 30-minute exposure. This research adds valuable data to the debate, but parents shouldn't interpret it as an all-clear signal for unrestricted device use by young people.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 1.4 and 0.35 W/kg
- Source/Device
- 900 MHz
- Exposure Duration
- continuous for 30 min
Where This Falls on the Concern Scale
Study Details
To examine the potential sensitivity of adolescents to radiofrequency electromagnetic field (RF EMF) exposures, such as those emitted by mobile phones.
In a double-blind, randomized, crossover design, 22 adolescents aged 11–13 years (12 males) underwen...
No clear significant effects of RF EMF exposure were found on the waking EEG or cognitive performanc...
Overall, the current study was unable to demonstrate exposure-related effects previously observed on the waking EEG in adults, and also provides further support for a lack of an influence of mobile phone-like exposure on cognitive performance.
Show BibTeX
@article{sp_2013_no_increased_sensitivity_in_2782,
author = {Loughran SP and Benz DC and Schmid MR and Murbach M and Kuster N and Achermann P. },
title = {No increased sensitivity in brain activity of adolescents exposed to mobile phone-like emissions},
year = {2013},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1388245713000515},
}