Note: This study found no significant biological effects under its experimental conditions. We include all studies for scientific completeness.
Effects of high peak power microwaves on the retina of the rhesus monkey.
Lu ST, Mathur SP, Stuck B, Zwick H, D'Andrea JA, Ziriax JM, Merritt JH, Lutty G, McLeod DS, Johnson M, · 2000
View Original AbstractMicrowave radiation caused no retinal effects at 4.3 W/kg, roughly double typical smartphone exposure levels.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed rhesus monkeys to high-power microwave radiation (1.25 GHz) for 4 hours daily over 3 weeks to study effects on the retina (the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye). At moderate exposure levels (4.3 W/kg), they found no changes, but at higher levels (8.4-20.2 W/kg), some monkeys showed enhanced electrical responses in cone cells that detect color vision, though no actual damage occurred. The researchers concluded that retinal injury is very unlikely at 4 W/kg and that any changes at higher levels would likely be reversible.
Study Details
We studied the retinal effects of 1.25 GHz high peak power microwaves in Rhesus monkeys.
Preexposure fundus photographs, retinal angiograms, and electroretinograms (ERG) were obtained to sc...
The preexposure and postexposure fundus pictures and angiograms were all within normal limits. The r...
We concluded that retinal injury is very unlikely at 4 W/kg. Functional changes that occur at higher R-SAR are probably reversible since we saw no evidence of histopathologic correlation with ERG changes
Show BibTeX
@article{st_2000_effects_of_high_peak_3211,
author = {Lu ST and Mathur SP and Stuck B and Zwick H and D'Andrea JA and Ziriax JM and Merritt JH and Lutty G and McLeod DS and Johnson M and},
title = {Effects of high peak power microwaves on the retina of the rhesus monkey.},
year = {2000},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10972948/},
}