Investigation of potential effects of cellular phones on human auditory function by means of distortion product otoacoustic emissions.
Janssen T, Boege P, von Mikusch-Buchberg J, Raczek J. · 2005
View Original AbstractCell phone radiation at 0.1 W/kg SAR produced detectable but extremely small changes in inner ear function that researchers deemed physiologically irrelevant.
Plain English Summary
Researchers tested whether 900-MHz cell phone radiation affects inner ear hearing cells in 28 people. They found extremely small changes (less than 1 decibel) in some subjects, but concluded these tiny shifts are physiologically meaningless given humans' 120-decibel hearing range.
Why This Matters
This study addresses an important question about whether cell phone radiation might affect our auditory system, particularly the outer hair cells that amplify sound and give us our remarkable hearing sensitivity. The researchers used a relatively low SAR of 0.1 W/kg, which is well below the 1.6 W/kg limit set by the FCC for cell phones. What's notable is that even at this lower exposure level, they detected measurable changes in some subjects, albeit extremely small ones. The researchers dismissed these changes as physiologically irrelevant, but this finding adds to the growing body of evidence that EMF exposure can produce detectable biological effects even when those effects fall below what researchers consider clinically significant. The reality is that our understanding of long-term, cumulative effects from repeated low-level exposures remains limited.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 0.1 W/kg
- Source/Device
- 900-MHz
Where This Falls on the Concern Scale
Study Details
The present study investigated potential effects of electromagnetic fields (EMF) of GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) cellular phones on OHCs by means of DPOAEs.
DPOAE measurements were performed during exposure, i.e., between consecutive GSM signal pulses, and ...
No significant change in the DPOAE level in response to the EMF exposure was found. However, when un...
Show BibTeX
@article{t_2005_investigation_of_potential_effects_1043,
author = {Janssen T and Boege P and von Mikusch-Buchberg J and Raczek J.},
title = {Investigation of potential effects of cellular phones on human auditory function by means of distortion product otoacoustic emissions.},
year = {2005},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15807013/},
}