Of 1,950 studies examining brain & nervous system, 83% found measurable biological effects from EMF exposure.
Research found effects on brain & nervous system at exposures as low as:
When you review the peer-reviewed literature on electromagnetic field exposure and brain function, the numbers tell a compelling story: 84% of the 2,753 studies examining this relationship have documented measurable effects. This isn't a fringe concern or preliminary finding. This is the dominant scientific picture, and it deserves your attention. The documented effects span multiple systems within your nervous system.
Of 2,753 studies examining EMF effects on the brain and nervous system, approximately 84 percent found measurable biological effects.
The scientific evidence demonstrates that radiofrequency electromagnetic fields from mobile phones and wireless devices produce measurable effects on nervous system function and cellular processes in the brain.
Source: BioInitiative Working Group. BioInitiative Report: A Rationale for Biologically-based Public Exposure Standards for Electromagnetic Radiation. Edited by Cindy Sage and David O. Carpenter, BioInitiative, 2012, updated 2020. www.bioinitiative.org
| EMF Type | Studies | Showing Effects | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| ELF | 229 | 208 | 91.00% |
| RF | 305 | 222 | 72.00% |
Source: Dr. Henry Lai research database
Showing 2,030 studies
Dreyer NA, Loughlin JE, Rothman KJ · 1999
The initial protocol called for continuing surveillance for mortality. Access to data beyond 1 year was blocked by a class-action lawsuit challenging the legality of monitoring product safety through record linkage.
de Seze R, Ayoub J, Peray P, Miro L, Touitou Y · 1999
Researchers evaluated maximum serum melatonin concentration, time of maximum, and area under the curve of the hormone profile. Thirty-eight men aged 20 to 32 years were exposed to GSM 900 or DCS 1800 phones for 2 hr/day, 5 days/wk, for 4 wk at maximum power. Blood samples were collected hourly during the night and every 3 hr in the daytime across four sessions at 15-day intervals. The melatonin circadian profile was not disrupted by the exposure.
Belousova TE, Kargina-Terent'eva RA · 1999
Researchers examined adrenergic cardiac and adrenal nervous plexuses in normotensive and spontaneously hypertensive rats using quantitative neurohistochemical methods before and after exposure to a Bayur microwave therapy apparatus at 42,194 MHz and 53,534 MHz. Exposure reduced myocardial nerve plexus density and catecholamine luminescence in the heart, and decreased adrenal gland relative weight and catecholamine luminescence in the adrenal medulla of hypertensive rats.
Adey WR et al. · 1999
Researchers tested an 836.55 MHz NADC-modulated field in a 2-year bioassay with fetal exposure in Fischer 344 rats. Of 236 original rats, 182 (77%) survived to termination at age 709-712 days. There was no evidence of tumorigenic effects in the CNS from TDMA field exposure. Exposed animals showed trends toward reduced incidence of spontaneous CNS tumors (P < 0.16) and ENU-induced CNS tumors (P < 0.16). In preterm rats where neural tumors caused death, fields decreased ENU-induced tumor incidence (P < 0.03).
Van Leeuwen GM et al. · 1999
Researchers evaluated 3D temperature rise in a realistic head model induced by a mobile phone. The power distributions had a maximum averaged SAR over a 10 g volume of approximately 1.6 W kg(-1). Simulations showed a maximum brain temperature rise of 0.11 degrees C for a 0.25 W antenna with indefinite exposure, and the authors noted that temperature rises are far too small to have lasting effects.
Seaman RL, Belt ML, Doyle JM, Mathur SP · 1999
Researchers investigated the effects of ultra-wideband electromagnetic pulses on L-NAME-induced changes in nociception and locomotor activity in CF-1 mice. Mice were injected with saline or 50 mg/kg L-NAME and exposed for 30 minutes to sham or UWB pulses with specific electric field parameters. UWB exposure eliminated the L-NAME-induced hyperactivity. UWB exposure reduced the L-NAME-induced increase in back-paw-lick latency by 22%, but this reduction was not statistically significant.
Paul Raj R, Behari J, Rao AR · 1999
The effect of exposing rats to amplitude-modulated radiofrequency radiation (112 MHz modulated to 16 Hz) during development and growth was examined. Wistar rats 35 days old exposed at 1.0 mW/cm2 (SAR 0.75 W/kg) for 35 days showed enhanced ornithine decarboxylase activity and Ca2+ efflux in brain.
Kemerov, S, Marinkev, M, Getova, D · 1999
Researchers exposed 24 Wistar rats to low-intensity electromagnetic fields in the meter, decimeter, and centimeter ranges to compare behavioral effects across those ranges. The rats were irradiated on the head area at a power density of 10 mW/cm2, and conditioned and non-conditioned responses along with spontaneous motor activity were studied using a conventional shuttle box. Exposure to EMFs across all three ranges was associated with slowing of conditioned response formation, with the effect most clearly marked in rats exposed to meter EMFs, while effects of centimeter EMFs were delayed in time. The behavioral effects were mild at athermal dosages and the animals adapted easily to exposure conditions.
Borbely et al. · 1999
Researchers exposed healthy young subjects during an entire night-time sleep episode to a 900 MHz electromagnetic field at a maximum specific absorption rate of 1 W/kg. The exposure schedule consisted of alternating 15-min on-15-min off intervals. Compared with a control night with sham exposure, the amount of waking after sleep onset was reduced from 18 to 12 min, and EEG spectral power in non-rapid eye movement sleep was increased. The researchers concluded that pulsed high-frequency EMF in the range of radiotelephones may promote sleep and modify the sleep EEG.
Unknown authors · 1998
Unknown authors · 1998
Rats were trained in six sessions to locate a submerged platform in a water maze and exposed to a 1 mT, 60 Hz magnetic field for one hour before each session. There was no significant difference in learning to locate the platform between exposed and control rats. Exposed rats had significantly slower swim speed and spent less time in the target quadrant during a probe trial, with different swim patterns.
Unknown authors · 1998
Researchers conducted a nationwide mortality study of 21,236 men employed in Danish utility companies between 1900 and 1993. Causes of death from 1974 through 1993 were analyzed by latency and estimated 50-Hz electromagnetic field exposure. Overall mortality was slightly lower than expected with a standardized mortality ratio of 0.96 (95% confidence interval 0.93-0.99). A twofold increase in ALS mortality was observed based on 14 deaths and increased with time since first employment, while a tenfold increase in electrical accident mortality was based on 10 deaths.
Unknown authors · 1998
There have been numerous recent reports of headaches occurring in association with the use of hand-held cellular telephones. In all three lines of research, the microwave energy used was approximately the same in frequencies, modulations, and incident energies as that emitted by present day cellular telephones.
Wagner, P, Roschke, J, Mann, K, Hiller, W, Frank, C · 1998
Researchers recorded all-night polysomnographies of 24 healthy male subjects with and without exposure to a circularly polarized 900 MHz pulsed electromagnetic field at 0.2 W/m². Suppression of REM sleep and a sleep-inducing effect under field exposure did not reach statistical significance, so previous results indicating alterations of these sleep parameters could not be replicated. Spectral power analysis also did not reveal any alterations of the EEG rhythms during EMF exposure.
Urban, P, Lukas, E, Roth, Z · 1998
Researchers performed a pilot study of acute exposure to a GSM mobile phone using visual evoked potentials as a marker of central nervous system dysfunction. No statistically significant influence on VEP latencies or amplitudes was observed.
Seaman RL, Belt ML, Doyle JM, Mathur SP · 1998
Researchers exposed CF-1 and C57BL/6 mice to ultra-wideband electromagnetic pulses and then tested nociception and locomotor activity. No effect of the pulses was found on nociception or activity in CF-1 mice after exposures of 15, 30, or 45 minutes at 600 pulses per second or 30 minutes at 60 pulses per second. Similarly, no effect was seen in C57BL/6 mice after 30 minutes at 60 or 600 pulses per second. Morphine-modified nociception and activity also showed no significant change after UWB exposure.
Schonborn F, Burkhardt M, Kuster N · 1998
In order to investigate the differences in absorption between adults and children due to their differing anatomies, simulations were performed using head phantoms based on MRI scans of an adult and two children aged 3 and 7 years. Ten different tissue types were distinguished and all simulations were performed using a commercial code based on the finite integration technique. The differences in absorption were investigated for the frequencies of 900 MHz and 1,800 MHz using 0.45 lambda dipoles instead of actual mobile phones. The results revealed no significant differences in the absorption of electromagnetic radiation in the near field of sources between adults and children.
Min ST, Redelmeier DA · 1998
Researchers used ecologic analysis to evaluate cellular telephone use and motor vehicle collisions in Toronto, Ontario, studying 75 hazardous locations with 3,234 total collisions from 1984 to 1993. Locations with the largest increases in collision rates tended to have the smallest increases in estimated cellular telephone usage. Extreme assumptions about potential protective effects from cellular telephones failed to explain the magnitude observed.
Mann et al. · 1998
Researchers exposed healthy humans to a 900 MHz pulsed electromagnetic field (217 Hz, 0.02 mW/cm²) and measured nocturnal hormone profiles of growth hormone, cortisol, luteinizing hormone, and melatonin under polysomnographic control. Cortisol showed a slight, transient elevation that persisted for one hour after exposure onset. No significant changes were found for growth hormone, luteinizing hormone, or melatonin, and sleep EEG showed no significant alterations, though there was a trend toward REM suppression.
Mann, K, Roschke, J, Connemann, B, Beta, H · 1998
The influence of pulsed high-frequency electromagnetic fields emitted by digital mobile radio telephones on heart rate during sleep in healthy humans was investigated. For most parameters, significant differences between different sleep stages were found. Under the given experimental conditions, autonomic control of heart rate was not affected by weak-pulsed high-frequency electromagnetic fields.
Malyapa RS et al. · 1998
Researchers exposed male Sprague-Dawley rats to 2450 MHz continuous-wave microwaves for two hours at 1.2 W/kg specific absorption rate. No significant differences in DNA damage were found between sham-exposed and irradiated rats in either the cerebral cortex or hippocampus, regardless of euthanasia method. Rats euthanized by CO2 asphyxia showed more intrinsic DNA damage and greater experiment-to-experiment variation than those euthanized by guillotine. The authors concluded that guillotine euthanasia is the most appropriate method for DNA damage studies. The study did not confirm previous reports of DNA damage from 2450 MHz microwave exposure.
Hocking, B · 1998
Researchers conducted a survey to characterize symptoms associated with mobile phone usage. Forty respondents from diverse occupations described unpleasant sensations such as a burning feeling or a dull ache mainly occurring in the temporal, occipital or auricular areas. The symptoms often began minutes after beginning a call and usually ceased within an hour after the call, though they could last until evening. Seventy-five per cent of cases were associated with digital mobile phones. Most of the respondents obtained relief by altering their patterns of telephone usage or type of phone.
Hanson Mild et al. · 1998
Grisanti G et al. · 1998
Researchers studied bioelectromagnetic effects induced by TACS phones on the auditory system. Modulated electromagnetic fields modified distortion products in about all examined subjects. The method used registration of evoked otoacoustic emissions, both transient and distortion products.
Freude, G, Ullsperger, P, Eggert ,S, Ruppe, I · 1998
Researchers studied the influence of electromagnetic fields emitted by cellular phones on preparatory slow brain potentials in healthy male subjects using two experimental tasks. Both tasks were performed with and without EMF exposure in counterbalanced order. Subjects' performance did not differ between exposure conditions, but EMF exposure significantly decreased slow brain potentials at central and temporo-parieto-occipital regions during the visual monitoring task and did not affect the Bereitschaftspotential in the finger movement task.
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