Intraoperative observation of changes in cochlear nerve action potentials during exposure to electromagnetic fields generated by mobile phones.
Colletti V, Mandalà M, Manganotti P, Ramat S, Sacchetto L, Colletti L. · 2010
View Original AbstractMobile phone radiation caused measurable nerve disruption in all patients tested, with effects lasting 5 minutes after exposure ended.
Plain English Summary
Italian researchers directly observed how mobile phone radiation affects nerve function in the inner ear during brain surgery on seven patients. When they placed an active mobile phone over the exposed brain area for 5 minutes, all patients showed measurable disruption to their cochlear nerve signals - the nerves responsible for hearing. These nerve disruptions lasted for about 5 minutes after the phone was removed, suggesting the electromagnetic fields can cause temporary but significant changes to nerve function.
Why This Matters
This study provides some of the most direct evidence to date that mobile phone radiation can measurably disrupt nerve function in the human auditory system. What makes this research particularly compelling is that the scientists could observe nerve activity in real-time during surgery, eliminating many variables that complicate other EMF studies. The fact that all seven patients showed consistent nerve disruption during exposure suggests this isn't a random finding. While the surgical setting makes it difficult to directly extrapolate to everyday phone use, the research demonstrates that EMF exposure can cause measurable, temporary changes to nerve conduction. This adds important biological plausibility to concerns about long-term effects from regular mobile phone use, especially given that many people hold phones directly against their heads for extended periods daily.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study. Duration: 5 min
Study Details
The aim of this study is to investigate Intraoperative observation of changes in cochlear nerve action potentials during exposure to electromagnetic fields generated by mobile phones.
To determine with objective observations if exposure to mobile phone EMF affects acoustically evoked...
All patients showed a substantial decrease in amplitude and a significant increase in latency of coc...
The possibility that EMF can produce relatively long-lasting effects on cochlear nerve conduction is discussed and analysed in light of contrasting previous literature obtained under non-surgical conditions. Limitations of this novel approach, including the effects of the anaesthetics, craniotomy and surgical procedure, are presented in detail.
Show BibTeX
@article{v_2010_intraoperative_observation_of_changes_1990,
author = {Colletti V and Mandalà M and Manganotti P and Ramat S and Sacchetto L and Colletti L.},
title = {Intraoperative observation of changes in cochlear nerve action potentials during exposure to electromagnetic fields generated by mobile phones.},
year = {2010},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21172864/},
}