Gulati et al. · 2020
Researchers compared genotoxic effects of three UMTS frequency channels used by 3G phones (1923, 1947.47, and 1977 MHz) in human lymphocytes. Human lymphocytes were exposed for 1 hour and 3 hours and tested for ROS, DNA damage, TP53 mutations, preleukemic fusion genes, and apoptosis. No effects were seen on ROS, apoptosis, preleukemic fusion genes, or TP53 mutations at any frequency, though bulk RNA expression was inhibited. A small but statistically significant increase in DNA damage occurred depending on the UMTS frequency channel, with the maximum effect at 1977.0 MHz.
Choi J, Min K, Jeon S, Kim N, Pack JK, Song K · 2020
Researchers exposed multiple human cell types, including adipose-derived stem cells, liver cancer stem cells, HeLa, SH-SY5Y, and IMR-90 fibroblasts, to 1.7 GHz LTE RF-EMF continuously for 72 hours at 1 and 2 SAR. Cell proliferation decreased in all cell types, with a stronger effect at 2 SAR than at 1 SAR and a milder effect in adipose-derived stem cells. Exposure did not cause DNA double-strand breaks or apoptosis but caused a slight G1-to-S cell-cycle delay, and senescence appeared in ASCs and Huh7 cells at 2 SAR, accompanied by increased intracellular ROS that mediated the anti-proliferative effect.
Meo et al · 2019
Human exposure to radio-frequency radiation has grown more than 100,000-fold since World War II. In 2011, IARC classified RFR as a possible human carcinogen. Three large-scale rodent studies found significantly increased rates of Schwannomas, malignant gliomas, and chromosomal DNA damage from RFR exposures mimicking lifetime human exposures. Compared with an adult male, a cell phone held against a child's head exposes deeper brain structures to greater radiation doses per unit volume, and the child's skull bone marrow absorbs a roughly 10-fold higher local dose. Recent reports suggest that men who keep cell phones in their trouser pockets have significantly lower sperm counts and significantly impaired sperm motility and morphology, including mitochondrial DNA damage.
Kelly Y et al. · 2019
Researchers analyzed data from 10,904 14-year-olds in the UK Millennium Cohort Study using multivariate regression and path models. The association between social media use and depressive symptoms was larger for girls than for boys. Compared with 1–3 h of daily use, 3 to <5 h was linked to a 26% increase in scores for girls and 21% for boys, while ≥5 h was linked to a 50% increase for girls and 35% for boys. Greater social media use related to online harassment, poor sleep, low self-esteem and poor body image, which in turn related to higher depressive symptom scores.
Liu J, Liu C, Wu T, Liu BP, Jia CX, Liu X · 2019
Researchers surveyed 11,831 adolescent students in Shandong, China in 2015 using a self-administered questionnaire to measure mobile phone use duration and depressive symptoms. After adjusting for covariates, weekday use of two or more hours per day (OR = 1.78, 95%CI = 1.48-2.15) and weekend use of five or more hours per day (OR = 1.67, 95%CI = 1.41-1.98) were each associated with increased risk of depressive symptoms measured by CES-D. The association between mobile phone use and depression was partially mediated by short sleep duration or insomnia. Similar associations were observed when depression was assessed using the Youth Self-Report scale.
Mireku MO et al. · 2019
Researchers analysed baseline data from 6616 adolescents aged 11 to 12 years in the SCAMP cohort in London. Over two-thirds (71.5%) of adolescents reported using at least one screen-based media device at night, and about a third (32.2%) reported using mobile phones at night in darkness. Night-time mobile phone and television use were associated with higher odds of insufficient sleep on weekdays, with stronger associations for mobile phone use in darkness. Mobile phone use in a dark room was also associated with lower health-related quality of life scores.
Lapierre MA et al. · 2019
Park SY, Yang S, Shin CS, Jang H, Park SY · 2019
At each of the three time points, Korean girls used mobile phones more frequently and had higher risk of mobile phone addiction and depressive symptoms than boys. Longitudinal relationships among phone use, addiction, and depression changed over time, but their strengths did not differ by gender.
Esmailzadeh S et al. · 2019
Researchers conducted a case-control study of 462 women with infertility and 471 controls between 2014 and 2016. Distance from high voltage power lines (240–400 kV) to each residence was measured using GIS and Google Earth. Women living within 500 meters had an odds ratio of 4.14 (95% CI 2.61 to 6.57) for infertility compared with those living beyond 1000 meters, and the adjusted odds ratio was 4.44 (95% CI 2.77 to 7.11).
Zhang X, Lv M, Zhu X, Tian L, Li J, Shao Y, Gao C, Sun X · 2019
Researchers exposed rats to electromagnetic pulse with or without isoflurane preconditioning and analyzed brain samples for microglia markers and inflammatory mediators. They also used SOCS1 siRNA in cultured microglia cells to test SOCS1's role. Electromagnetic pulse exposure made microglia pro-inflammatory, increased inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, activated the TLR4 pathway, and caused neuronal death. Isoflurane preconditioning reversed these changes and switched microglia to an anti-inflammatory phenotype. Blocking SOCS1 eliminated the protective effect of isoflurane preconditioning.
Özgün A, Marote A, Behie LA, Salgado A, Garipcan B · 2019
Researchers examined the involvement of NMDA receptors in human neuronal differentiation under extremely low frequency magnetic field exposure. Human neural progenitor cells differentiated more efficiently under ELF MF exposure in vitro, shown by increased neuronal markers. Exposed cells showed higher intracellular calcium levels, evidenced by c-fos expression and more elongated mature neurites. Blocking NMDA receptors with memantine neutralized these effects.
Unknown authors · 2019
Researchers used a lane change task and reaction time tests to assess driving performance and cognitive functions in 17 students exposed to a 350 μT static magnetic field. EEG recordings were taken during the experiment to monitor brain activity related to performance and cognition. The results showed that the static magnetic field did not considerably affect driving performance or cognitive functions, but a correlation was found between the EEG beta sub-band and reaction time.
Unknown authors · 2019
Researchers measured occupational ELF-MF exposure in a power plant using the NIOSH manual. The median magnetic field at working sites was 0.85 µT. They assessed DNA single-strand breaks in 29 male utility workers and 28 male support personnel using the comet assay. Exposed workers showed significantly increased olive length, tail moment, and tail DNA percent. Induction of DNA damage was observed for the exposed workers compared with the controls.
Unknown authors · 2019
The study aimed to evaluate the effect of extremely low frequency electromagnetic field treatment on the molecular mechanism of inflammatory cytokine activity in post-stroke patients. All patients received the same physical therapy program, and the ELF-EMF group also received ELF-EMF treatment. The researchers measured plasma levels of IL-1β, IL-2, IFN-γ, and TGF-β, and IL-1β mRNA expression. After ELF-EMF treatment, IL-1β plasma level, IL-1β mRNA expression, and IL-2 plasma level increased, while IFN-γ and TGF-β levels did not change. Further research is needed to explore this hypothesis.
Unknown authors · 2019
Unknown authors · 2019
Researchers used data from 55,507 pregnant women across four birth cohorts in Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, and South Korea to examine associations between maternal cell-phone use and pregnancy outcomes. Exposure was categorized based on self-reported daily call frequency into none, low, intermediate, or high groups. The intermediate exposure group showed a higher risk of lower gestational age (hazard ratio 1.04, 95% CI 1.01–1.07), and exposure-response trends were seen for shorter pregnancy duration and preterm birth. No associations were found with fetal growth or birth weight measures.
Kim JH, Huh YH, Kim HR · 2019
Researchers exposed C57BL/6 mice to 835 MHz RF-EMF at 4.0 W/kg SAR for 5 hours daily over 12 weeks. The number and size of synaptic vesicles in hypothalamic presynaptic terminals were significantly decreased. The density of docking and fusing synaptic vesicles in active zones was also significantly decreased. Expression levels of synapsin I/II, synaptotagmin 1, and calcium channels were significantly decreased in the hypothalamus. Tests of core body temperature, body weight, and buried pellet test revealed no significant phenotypical changes.
Unknown authors · 2019
The study applied Monte Carlo simulation to data from the ExPOSURE study of 412 Australian primary school children. Multiple linear regression models found weak evidence of an association between mobile phone calls and cognitive function. Associations were observed for Go/No Go, Groton maze learning, and Stroop time ratio tasks. When uncertainty analysis was introduced, the results shifted closer to the null hypothesis.
Unknown authors · 2019
Twenty subjects underwent 30 minutes of acute cold exposure with blood drawn at baseline, during exposure, and two hours after. Acute cold exposure increased heart rate by 11%, shivering sensations fourfold, pain twofold, oxygen consumption by 50%, and energy expenditure by 52%. IL-1? rose 24% at 30 minutes and 65% at two hours post-exposure, alpha-2-macroglobin rose 16% at 30 minutes then returned to baseline, and HDL rose 15% at two hours. Sex differences were observed for IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, ferritin, alpha-2-macroglobin, and HDL.
Wang CX et al. · 2019
Ozdemir E, Demirkazik A, Taskıran AS, Arslan G. · 2019
Researchers exposed 66 adult male Wistar albino rats to alternating 50 Hz and 5 mT EMF for 2 hours a day for 15 days, then injected serotonin receptor agonists or antagonists before analgesia tests. Administration of serotonin HCl to MF-exposed rats produced a significant increase in percent maximal possible effect compared with the EMF group. Injection of WAY 100635 to MF-exposed rats produced a significant decrease in analgesic activity, while DOI hydrochloride significantly increased % MPE values compared with the EMF group. The researchers suggested that serotonin 5-HT1 and 5-HT2 receptors play an important role in EMF-induced analgesia, but noted that further research studies are necessary to understand the mechanism.
Karimi SA, Salehi I, Shykhi T, Zare S, Komaki A. · 2019
Seventy-two adult male Wistar rats were randomly divided into a control group, a sham exposure group, and ELF-EMF exposure groups at 1, 100, 500, and 2000 μT. After 60 days of exposure at 2 hours per day, researchers assessed anxiety-like behavior, spatial learning and memory, passive avoidance learning, and oxidative stress markers. Rats in the 100 and 2000 μT groups spent more time in the target zone during the spatial reference memory test. The researchers suggested that ELF-EMF exposure may improve memory retention but not acquisition, and may contribute to anxiety or oxidative stress.
Cabre-Riera A et al. · 2018
Researchers conducted a cross-sectional study of adolescents aged 17–18 years from a Spanish birth cohort established in Menorca in 1997–1998. Subjective sleep was assessed with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index in 226 participants and objective sleep with ActiGraph wGT3X-BT for 7 nights in 110 participants. One or more cordless phone calls per week was associated with lower sleep quality (PR 1.30, 95% CI 1.04–1.62). Habitual and frequent problematic mobile phone use were associated with lower sleep quality (PR 1.55 and 1.67). Higher tablet use was linked to decreased sleep efficiency and increased wake time after sleep onset per 10 minutes per day of use.
Kato T, Yorifuii T, Yamakawa M, Inoue S · 2018
Researchers analyzed 9607 adolescents who owned mobile phones in 2013 using a Japanese longitudinal survey that began in 2001. The study examined delayed bedtime at age six and excessive use of mobile phones, television, and video games at age twelve. Delayed bedtime at age six was associated with excessive texting at weekends, with adjusted odds ratios of 1.88 for the 10–11 pm group and 1.98 for the after 11 pm group compared to the before 9 pm group. Later bedtimes were also associated with increased risks of excessive television viewing and video game use.
Foerster et al · 2018
Researchers modeled RF-EMF brain dose for each participant and tracked verbal and figural memory score changes over one year using multivariable linear regression. Higher cumulative RF-EMF brain dose was associated with decreased figural memory scores in the whole sample and more strongly in right-side phone users. Media use unrelated to RF-EMF showed no significant associations with memory changes.
