The effect of mobile phone to audiologic system.
Kerekhanjanarong V, Supiyaphun P, Naratricoon J, Laungpitackchumpon P. · 2005
View Original AbstractHeavy mobile phone users (over 60 minutes daily) showed worse hearing in their phone ear compared to their non-phone ear.
Plain English Summary
Researchers at Chulalongkorn University tested hearing in 98 mobile phone users, comparing the ear they typically held their phone to versus their non-phone ear. While most users showed no hearing differences between ears, the 8 people who used their phones more than 60 minutes daily had worse hearing thresholds in their phone ear compared to their non-phone ear.
Why This Matters
This study provides early evidence that heavy mobile phone use may affect hearing, particularly for those exceeding one hour of daily talk time. What makes this research compelling is its direct comparison approach - using each person's non-phone ear as their own control, which eliminates individual variations in hearing ability. The finding that only heavy users (over 60 minutes daily) showed hearing differences suggests a dose-response relationship, where more exposure correlates with greater effect. While the sample of heavy users was small (just 8 people), this pattern aligns with other research showing that EMF biological effects often emerge with higher exposure levels. For context, many smartphone users today far exceed 60 minutes of daily screen time, though much of this involves texting and apps rather than voice calls held directly to the ear.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study. Duration: 3 to 180 mins
Study Details
The aim of this study is to investigate The effect of mobile phone to audiologic system.
98 subjects underwent hearing evaluations at Department of Otolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine, King...
When the authors compared the audiogram, both pure tone and speech audiometry, between the dominant ...
Show BibTeX
@article{v_2005_the_effect_of_mobile_2267,
author = {Kerekhanjanarong V and Supiyaphun P and Naratricoon J and Laungpitackchumpon P.},
title = {The effect of mobile phone to audiologic system.},
year = {2005},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16623034/},
}