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Note: This study found no significant biological effects under its experimental conditions. We include all studies for scientific completeness.

Reproductive Health

No adverse effects detected for simultaneous whole-body exposure to multiple-frequency radiofrequency electromagnetic fields for rats in the intrauterine and pre- and post-weaning periods.

No Effects Found

Shirai T, Wang J, Kawabe M, Wake K, Watanabe SI, Takahashi S, Fujiwara O · 2017

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Simultaneous whole-body exposure to eight communication signal EMFs from 800 MHz to 5.2 GHz did not show adverse effects on pregnancy or development in rats.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Researchers exposed pregnant rats and their offspring to eight radiofrequency signals ranging from 800 MHz to 5.2 GHz. The exposure lasted 20 h per day from gestational day 7 through weaning and continued for offspring up to 6 weeks of age. No abnormal findings were observed in the dams, F1 offspring, or F2 offspring across all evaluated parameters. The study concluded that simultaneous whole-body exposure to these frequencies did not show adverse effects on pregnancy or development.

Why This Matters

The study used Thirty six pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats divided into a sham control group and two exposure groups at low and high levels. Researchers assessed growth, gestational condition, organ weights, survival, development, memory function, reproductive ability, and embryotoxicity.

Exposure Information

A logarithmic frequency spectrum from 10 Hz to 100 GHz showing where this study's 800 MHz - 5.20 GHz exposure sits relative to common EMF sources.Where This Frequency Sits on the EMF SpectrumELFVLFLF / MFHF / VHFUHFSHFmm10 Hz100 GHzThis study: 800 MHz - 5.20 GHzPower lines50/60 Hz5G mm28 GHzLogarithmic scale

Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study. The study examined exposure from: 800 MHz–5.2 GHz Duration: 20 h per day

Study Details

In everyday life, people are exposed to radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic fields (EMFs) with multiple frequencies. To evaluate the possible adverse effects of multifrequency RF EMFs, we performed an experiment in which pregnant rats and their delivered offspring were simultaneously exposed to eight different communication signal EMFs (two of 800 MHz band, two of 2 GHz band, one of 2.4 GHz band, two of 2.5 GHz band and one of 5.2 GHz band).

Thirty six pregnant Sprague-Dawley (SD) 10-week-old rats were divided into three groups of 12 rats: ...

No abnormal findings were observed in the dams or F1 offspring exposed to the RF EMFs or to the F2 o...

Thus, under the conditions of the present experiment, simultaneous whole-body exposure to eight different communication signal EMFs at frequencies between 800 MHz and 5.2 GHz did not show any adverse effects on pregnancy or on the development of rats.

Cite This Study
Shirai T, Wang J, Kawabe M, Wake K, Watanabe SI, Takahashi S, Fujiwara O (2017). No adverse effects detected for simultaneous whole-body exposure to multiple-frequency radiofrequency electromagnetic fields for rats in the intrauterine and pre- and post-weaning periods. J Radiat Res. 58(1):48-58, 2017.
Show BibTeX
@article{t_2017_no_adverse_effects_detected_3397,
  author = {Shirai T and Wang J and Kawabe M and Wake K and Watanabe SI and Takahashi S and Fujiwara O},
  title = {No adverse effects detected for simultaneous whole-body exposure to multiple-frequency radiofrequency electromagnetic fields for rats in the intrauterine and pre- and post-weaning periods.},
  year = {2017},
  
  url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27694283/},
}
PubMed: 27694283

Cited By (25 papers)

Quick Questions About This Study

The rats were exposed to eight communication signals including two at 800 MHz band, two at 2 GHz band, one at 2.4 GHz band, two at 2.5 GHz band, and one at 5.2 GHz band.
Mother rats and offspring were exposed for 20 h per day throughout the exposure period.
Researchers measured growth, gestational condition, organ weights, survival rates, development, memory function, reproductive ability, and embryotoxicity.
No abnormal findings were observed in the dams, F1 offspring, or F2 offspring for any of the parameters evaluated.
The study concluded that simultaneous whole-body exposure to eight communication signal EMFs between 800 MHz and 5.2 GHz did not show adverse effects on pregnancy or development under the experimental conditions.