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The effect of electromagnetic radiation in the mobile phone range on the behaviour of the rat

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Daniels WM, Pitout IL, Afullo TJ, Mabandla MV · 2009

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Rat spatial memory and brain morphology showed no significant differences after EMR exposure, though some exposed animals showed decreased locomotor activity and increased grooming.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Researchers studied the effect of electromagnetic radiation in the mobile phone range on the behaviour of the rat. Behavioural, histological and biochemical tests were performed on exposed and unexposed male and female rats to examine learning and memory, emotional states and corticosterone levels. No significant differences were found in spatial memory or brain morphology between groups, but some exposed animals showed decreased locomotor activity, increased grooming and a tendency of increased basal corticosterone levels. The researchers suggested that EMR exposure may lead to abnormal brain functioning.

Why This Matters

The study tested both male and female rats and used behavioural, histological and biochemical methods to look for a range of effects. The researchers focused on the hippocampus because it is involved in learning and memory and emotional states, and they hypothesised that EMR would have a negative impact on mood and ability to learn. The core outcomes of spatial memory and brain morphology were not significantly different between exposed and unexposed animals. The corticosterone finding was described as a tendency of increased basal corticosterone levels, observed only in some exposed animals.

Exposure Details

Power Density
0.000006 mW/cm²
Electric Field
0.00895 V/m
Source/Device
840 MHz
Exposure Duration
continuous for 3 hr/day from day 2 to day 14 after birth

Exposure Context

This study used 0.000006 mW/cm² for radio frequency:

Building Biology guidelines are practitioner-based limits from real-world assessments. BioInitiative Report recommendations are based on peer-reviewed science. Check Your Exposure to compare your own measurements.

Where This Falls on the Concern Scale

Study Exposure Level in ContextStudy Exposure Level in ContextThis study: 0.000006 mW/cm²Extreme Concern - 1,000 µW/m²FCC Limit - 10M µW/m²Effects observed in the Severe Concern range (Building Biology)FCC limit is 166,667 times higher than this level
A logarithmic frequency spectrum from 10 Hz to 100 GHz showing where this study's 840 MHz exposure sits relative to common EMF sources.Where This Frequency Sits on the EMF SpectrumELFVLFLF / MFHF / VHFUHFSHFmm10 Hz100 GHzThis study: 840 MHzPower lines50/60 Hz5G mm28 GHzLogarithmic scale

Study Details

To study the effect of electromagnetic radiation in the mobile phone range on the behaviour of the rat.

In a study by Salford et al. (Environ Health Perspect 111:881-883, 2003) the authors demonstrated th...

We found no significant differences in the spatial memory test, and morphological assessment of the ...

These findings suggested that EMR exposure may lead to abnormal brain functioning

Cite This Study
Daniels WM, Pitout IL, Afullo TJ, Mabandla MV (2009). The effect of electromagnetic radiation in the mobile phone range on the behaviour of the rat Metab Brain Dis. 24(4):629-641, 2009.
Show BibTeX
@article{wm_2009_the_effect_of_electromagnetic_84,
  author = {Daniels WM and Pitout IL and Afullo TJ and Mabandla MV},
  title = {The effect of electromagnetic radiation in the mobile phone range on the behaviour of the rat},
  year = {2009},
  doi = {10.1007/s11011-009-9164-3},
  url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11011-009-9164-3},
}
DOI: 10.1007/s11011-009-9164-3

Cited By (70 papers)

View all 70 citing papers on Semantic Scholar

Quick Questions About This Study

In some exposed animals there were decreased locomotor activity, increased grooming and a tendency of increased basal corticosterone levels.
No significant differences were found in the spatial memory test between exposed and unexposed groups.
Morphological assessment of the brain yielded non-significant differences between the groups.
The findings suggested that EMR exposure may lead to abnormal brain functioning.
The hippocampus is involved in learning and memory and emotional states, leading researchers to hypothesise that EMR would negatively affect mood and ability to learn.