Kesari KK, Kumar S, Behari J. · 2012
Researchers exposed Wistar rats to 2.45 GHz frequency microwave radiation for 2 h a day for 45 days, with a whole body specific absorption rate estimated to be 0.14 W/kg. Pineal melatonin levels were significantly lower in the exposed group compared with the sham-exposed group. Creatine kinase, caspase 3, and calcium ion concentration were all significantly higher in the whole brain of the exposed animals.
Joseph W, Goeminne F, Vermeeren G, Verloock L, Martens L. · 2012
Researchers assessed electromagnetic exposure from 14 types of air traffic control systems for both workers and the general public. In total, 50 sites were investigated at 1,073 locations in the frequency range of 255 kHz to 24 GHz. Two system types, Non-Directional Beacons (up to 881.6 V m) and DVOR (up to 92.3 V m), exhibited levels requiring recommended minimum distances so that ICNIRP reference levels are not exceeded. When multiple radiofrequency sources were present together, the air traffic control source was found to dominate total exposure in its neighborhood.
Joseph W, Verloock L, Goeminne F, Vermeeren G, Martens L. · 2012
Researchers measured radio frequency (RF) exposure at 311 locations across Belgium, the Netherlands, and Sweden, covering six types of environments including rural, residential, urban, suburban, office, and industrial. Exposure ratios for total field values ranged from 3.1% in rural environments to 9.4% in residential environments, relative to ICNIRP reference levels. Median exposures were highest in urban environments at 0.74 V m(-1) and lowest in rural environments at 0.09 V m(-1). GSM contributed more than 60% of the total electric field on average, while the emerging technologies LTE and WiMAX each contributed on average less than 1%.
Joseph W, Goeminne F, Vermeeren G, Verloock L, Martens L. · 2012
Researchers assessed electromagnetic field exposure of workers and the general public from non-directional beacons used for air traffic control. The maximum electric fields exceeded ICNIRP reference levels at all seven sites, and magnetic fields exceeded those levels at two of the seven sites for occupational exposure. The highest measured occupational electric field value was 881.6 V/m and the highest magnetic field value was 9.1 A/m.
Joseph W, Verloock L, Goeminne F, Vermeeren G, Martens L. · 2012
Researchers measured radiofrequency exposure from various sources in Reading, United Kingdom, and developed a method to estimate worst-case LTE exposure. All measured electric field levels satisfied ICNIRP reference levels, with a maximum total electric field value of 4.5 V/m. LTE exposure averaged 0.2 V/m and reached a maximum of 0.5 V/m, contributing on average only 0.4% of total exposure. The worst-case extrapolated LTE field value was 1.9 V/m, which is 32 times below the ICNIRP reference levels.
Joseph W, Goeminne F, Verloock L, Vermeeren G, Martens L. · 2012
Researchers investigated occupational and general public exposure to VHF/UHF radio transmissions used for air traffic control communication, conducting measurements at three transmission centres. Electric fields ranged from 0.2 to 21.1 V m(-1) for workers and from 0.007 to 8.0 V m(-1) for the general public, with averages of 5.2 V m(-1) and 0.7 V m(-1) respectively. All measured values satisfied the International Commission on Non-ionizing Radiation Protection guidelines.
Joseph W et al. · 2012
Researchers measured personal radio frequency electromagnetic field exposure in Belgium, Switzerland, Slovenia, Hungary, and the Netherlands across microenvironments such as homes, public transport, and outdoors. From those field measurements, whole-body absorption values were calculated for a 1-year-old child model and an adult male model and compared for the five countries. The maximum mean whole-body absorption was 3.4 µW/kg for the child and 1.8 µW/kg for the adult, both well below the ICNIRP basic restriction of 0.08 W/kg for the general public.
Jin Z, Zong C, Jiang B, Zhou Z, Tong J, Cao Y. · 2012
Researchers pre-exposed human promyelocytic leukemia HL-60 cells to 900 MHz radiofrequency fields at 12 µW/cm2 power density for 1 hour/day for 3 days, then treated them with doxorubicin at 0.125 mg/L. Radiofrequency exposure alone showed no significant differences from unexposed or sham-exposed control cells. Compared with doxorubicin treatment alone, cells that received radiofrequency pre-exposure before doxorubicin showed increased cell proliferation, decreased apoptosis, increased mitochondrial membrane potential, decreased intracellular calcium, and increased Ca2+-Mg2+-ATPase activity.
Hekmat A, Saboury AA, Moosavi-Movahedi AA. · 2012
Researchers exposed calf thymus DNA to mobile phone radiofrequency fields at 940 MHz, 15 V/m, and a SAR of 40 mW/kg, then examined the DNA immediately after exposure and again two hours after a 45-minute exposure using several laboratory instruments. UV-vis and circular dichroism experiments showed that the EMFs caused disturbance in the DNA structure. Exposed DNA samples were relatively thermally unstable compared to unexposed DNA, and showed more fluorescence emission, which the researchers suggested may have occurred due to expansion of the exposed DNA structure. The structure of the DNA immediately after exposure was not significantly different from the DNA sample two hours after the 45-minute exposure, suggesting the changes were irreversible.
Dhami AK. · 2012
Researchers measured microwave and RF radiation power densities near schools and hospitals in Chandigarh city in India. The highest measured power density was 11.48 mW/m(2) which is 1,148% of the biological limit. The measured values were compared with international exposure limits set by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).
Chen Q et al. · 2012
Researchers studied electrocardiogram (ECG) outcomes in 225 female workers exposed to 27.2 MHz radiofrequency radiation at a shoe factory, comparing them with 100 unexposed female workers from the same factory. The electric field strength the workers were exposed to averaged 64.0 ± 25.2 V/m, which exceeded the 61 V/m International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection reference level for occupational exposure. A statistical difference between the exposed and control groups was observed in the rate of sinus bradycardia, but after known cardiovascular risk factors were considered, exposure duration was not found to be an effective factor for ECG changes.
Breckenkamp J et al. · 2012
Researchers measured RF-EMF exposure in the bedrooms of 1,348 households in Germany using Antennessa(®) EME Spy 120 dosimeters, with 280 measures available for each frequency band per household. Exposure levels were very low and far below the ICNIRP's exposure reference levels. Cordless phones (DECT standard) and wireless LAN/Bluetooth were the major sources, contributing about 82% of total exposure.
Bortkiewicz A, Gadzicka E, Szymczak W, Zmyślony M. · 2012
Researchers studied whether exposure to EMF from a mobile phone influenced tympanic temperature in ten healthy young men, aged 22.1±4.7 years. Each participant was examined three times: on a sham day with 2×60 minutes of no exposure, on a day with continuous 60-minute exposure followed by 60 minutes of no exposure, and on a day with intermittent exposure alternating 15-minute on and off periods. During continuous exposure, mean tympanic temperature was significantly higher than during sham exposure (p = 0.0001), while during intermittent exposure temperature was lower than on the sham day. The trends in tympanic temperature during the experiment differed significantly in relation to exposure conditions (p < 0.05).
Bolte JF, Eikelboom T. · 2012
Bellieni CV et al. · 2012
Researchers measured electromagnetic fields from five laptop computers of different brands and used computerized models to estimate induced currents in adult users and fetuses. The measured EMF values ranged from 1.8 to 6 μT, which fell within ICNIRP guidelines but were considerably higher than levels recommended by MPR II and TCO guidelines and those considered risky for tumor development. The power supply induced electric current densities in the fetus and adult that were respectively 182–263% and 71–483% higher than ICNIRP 98 basic restrictions.
Akar A et al. · 2012
Researchers exposed adult male Wistar rats to 2.45 GHz microwave radiation at a SAR of 0.25 W/kg for 2 hours each day for 21 days and then measured corneal thickness using histological and stereological methods. Overall corneal thickness was 278.9 ± 54.5 μm in the control group and 272.4 ± 85.6 μm in the study group, with no statistically significant difference between groups. Anterior corneal epithelium thickness was 28.1 ± 4.9 μm in the control group and 31.7 ± 5.5 μm in the exposed group, a statistically significant difference. The researchers concluded that exposure to microwave radiation might cause alterations in the rat cornea.
Aït-Aïssa S et al. · 2012
Pregnant rats were exposed to a 2.45 GHz Wi-Fi signal for 2 hours per day, 5 days per week, at whole-body SAR levels of 0, 0.08, 0.4, and 4 W/kg. Dams were exposed from days 6 to 21 of gestation, and then three newborns per litter were further exposed from birth to day 35 postnatal. Sera from pups were screened for antibodies against 15 different antigens using ELISA, and no change in humoral response was observed regardless of the types of biomarker and SAR levels. The researchers' observations suggested a lack of adverse effects of Wi-Fi exposure on delivery and general condition of the animals.
Jiang B, Nie J, Zhou Z, Zhang J, Tong J, Cao Y. · 2012
Researchers pre-exposed mice to 900 MHz radiofrequency fields at 120 µW/cm2 for 4 hours per day for 1, 3, 5, 7, or 14 days, then subjected them to an acute dose of 3 Gy of gamma-radiation. DNA damage in peripheral blood leukocytes was measured using the alkaline comet assay, which detects alkali labile base damage and single strand breaks. Mice pre-exposed to radiofrequency fields for just 1 day showed damage similar to those exposed to gamma-radiation alone, but pre-exposure for 3 or more days led to progressively decreased damage.
Lu YS, Huang BT, Huang YX. · 2012
Researchers studied reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation and apoptosis in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) exposed to 900 MHz radiofrequency electromagnetic fields at a specific absorption rate of ~0.4 W/kg. ROS was found to play an important role in apoptosis when exposure lasted longer than two hours, with apoptosis induced through the mitochondrial pathway and mediated by activating ROS and caspase-3, and decreasing the mitochondrial potential. The imbalance between antioxidant defenses and ROS formation was associated with about 37% human PBMC death in eight hours.
Güler G et al. · 2012
Researchers exposed infant rabbits to 1800 MHz GSM-like RF radiation and measured lipid peroxidation and DNA damage in their livers. Lipid peroxidation levels in liver tissue increased in both female and male infant rabbits under RF radiation exposure. Liver 8-OHdG levels, a marker of DNA damage, increased in exposed female rabbits but showed no change in exposed male rabbits. The researchers concluded that GSM-like RF radiation may induce biochemical changes by increasing free radical attacks to structural biomolecules in the rabbit model.
Avci B, Akar A, Bilgici B, Tunçel ÖK · 2012
Researchers divided 66 albino Wistar rats into three groups to study oxidative damage from radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation and whether garlic extract could protect against it. After radiofrequency exposure, advanced oxidation protein product levels in brain tissue increased compared with the control group. Garlic administration alongside radiofrequency exposure significantly reduced those protein oxidation levels in brain tissue. No significant differences were found among the groups for malondialdehyde levels in brain tissue and blood, or for serum paraoxonase levels.
Vignola MB et al. · 2012
Researchers evaluated the effect of pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) therapy on inflammatory biomarkers associated with oxidative stress in rats with experimental myopathy. Myopathy was induced by injecting 50 μl of 1% carrageenan, and PEMF treatment was applied at 20 mT and 50 Hz for 30 min/day/rat. PEMF treatment was associated with decreased levels of fibrinogen, L-citrulline, NO, SOD, and carbonyl groups and significant muscle recovery.
Todorović D et al. · 2012
Researchers studied how magnetic fields affected antioxidative defense and fitness-related traits in Baculum extradentatum, a stick insect. One group was exposed to a constant magnetic field of 50 mT, another to an alternating magnetic field of 50 Hz and 6 mT, and a control group was kept out of influence of the magnets. SOD and CAT enzyme activities were increased in animals exposed to constant and alternating magnetic fields, while GSH content was not influenced. Significant differences in development timing were found between the control and the CMF group, and between the CMF and the AMF group, but nymph mass and egg mortality did not differ across groups.
Shine MB, Guruprasad KN, Anand A · 2012
Researchers treated soybean seeds with static magnetic fields of 150 and 200 mT for 1 hour and measured reactive oxygen species and antioxidant enzyme activity. Magnetic field treatment resulted in enhanced production of ROS mediated by cell wall peroxidase, while ascorbic acid content, superoxide dismutase, and ascorbate peroxidase activity decreased in the hypocotyl of germinating seeds. The researchers described these findings as their first report on the biochemical basis of enhanced germination and seedling growth in magnetically treated soybean seeds in relation to increased ROS production.
Sadeghipour R et al. · 2012
Researchers investigated the effects of 100 and 217 Hz extremely low-frequency pulsed electromagnetic fields on cell proliferation, actin reorganization, and ROS generation in human breast carcinoma cells (T47D). Cells were exposed for 24-72 h, at 100 and 217 Hz, 0.1 mT. The treatment induced a time dependent decrease in cell growth after 72 h and revealed an increase in fluorescence intensity in cytoplasm and actin aggregations around the nucleus as detected by fluorescence microscopy. Exposure to 217 Hz for 72 hours caused a dramatic increase in intracellular ROS generation, while exposure to 100 Hz left ROS nearly unchanged.
