ARPANSA - Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency

By: Wallace D, Eltiti S, Ridgewell A, et al
Published in: Environ Health Perspect 2010: in press

A randomized double-blind provocation study which investigated whether short-term exposure to a Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) base station signal affects the health and well-being of people that reported themselves as being 'electrosensitive'. The subjects that took part in the study included 51 individuals with self-reported 'electrosensitivity' and 132 controls (not electrosensitive) that were matched on age and gender to the electrosensitives. An open provocation test and a complete double-blind test in a fully screened semi-anechoic chamber were conducted. Measures of health and well-being included objective indices of short-term physiological response (heart rate, skin conductance and blood pressure) and subjective indices of well-being (visual analogue scales and symptom scales). There was no difference on any measure between TETRA and sham exposure (no signal) under double-blind conditions for either the controls or electrosensitives and neither group could detect the presence of a TETRA signal above what is to be expected by chance. When conditions were not double-blinded, however, the electrosensitive individuals did report feeling worse and experienced more severe symptoms during TETRA compared to sham exposure. The authors conclude that the adverse symptoms experienced by electrosensitive individuals are due to the belief of harm from TETRA base stations rather than due to the low-level electromagnetic exposure itself.

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Electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) refers to people attributing health symptoms to an exposure to electromagnetic fields. In this context, EHS symptoms can be reported in relation to the electric and magnetic fields forming radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation of mobile communication systems as well as extremely low-frequency fields of electrical power systems. It should be noted that the term EHS exclusively depicts self-reported hypersensitivity. So far, objective criteria classifying these subjects as hypersensitive have not been established.

There have been several provocation studies (deliberate, controlled, exposures of volunteers) of individuals potentially hypersensitive to the presence of electric or magnetic fields and these have been reviewed by several authors (Seitz et al, 2005; Valberg et al, 2007; Roosli, 2008). The majority of provocation studies have found that self-described sufferers of electromagnetic hypersensitivity are unable to distinguish between exposure to real and sham electromagnetic fields. The International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection in its 2009 review of health consequences concerning exposure to high frequency electromagnetic fields (100 kHz to 300 GHz) concluded:

“A wide range of subjective symptoms including headaches and migraine, fatigue, and skin itches have been attributed to various RF sources both at home and at work. However, in provocation studies a causal relation between EMF exposure and symptoms has never been demonstrated. Possibly the conscious expectation of such symptoms may play a role in the etiology of this condition”. (http://www.icnirp.de/documents/RFReview.pdf)

The World Health Organization has issued a fact sheet about EHS (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs296/en/index.html)

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By:  Leszczynski D and Xu Z
Published in: Health Res Policy Syst 2010: in press

This paper presents an overview of the research on mobile phones and health effects and the current standards on radiofrequency radiation protection. The authors conclude that the scientific evidence to date is insufficient to prove the reliability of the current safety standards. The authors recommend using precaution when dealing with mobile phones and, whenever possible and feasible, to limit exposure to the head and body. They also recommend continuing the research in order to improve the basis and the reliability of the safety standards.

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By:  Narayanan SN, et al
Published in: Ups J Med Sci 2010: in press

An animal study investigating the effect of radiofrequency (RF) radiation from mobile phones on  passive avoidance behaviour and hippocampal morphology in rats. Healthy male albino Wistar rats were exposed to RF radiation by placing a GSM mobile phone in vibratory mode (no ring tone) in the cage and assigning 50 missed calls (within 1 hour) per day for 4 weeks. Passive avoidance behaviour was significantly affected in the exposed rats when compared to the controls (rats not exposed to RF). Marked morphological changes were also observed in a particular region of the hippocampus of the mobile phone-exposed rats in comparison to the controls. The authors conclude that mobile phone RF exposure significantly altered the passive avoidance behaviour and hippocampal morphology in rats.

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By:  Szemerszky R, et al
Published in: Brain Res Bull 2010; 81 (1): 92 – 99

An animal study assessing the long-term effects of 50 Hz magnetic fields on the development of chronic stress and stress-induced psychopathology. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to a 0.5 mT magnetic field for 5 days, 8h daily (short exposure) or for 4-6 weeks, 24h daily (long exposure). Behavioural and pathological parameters were compared with a control group (not exposed to magnetic fields). The authors report that long and continuous exposure to relatively high intensity magnetic fields may count as a mild stress situation and could be a factor in the development of depressive state or metabolic disturbances. However they note that the average intensity of human exposure is normally much lower than in this study.

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By:  Focke F, et al
Published in: Mutat Res 2010; 683 (1-2): 74 – 83

A replication study clarifying the existence and exploring the origin and nature of DNA effects induced by extremely low frequency magnetic fields (MFs). The authors report that intermittent (but not continuous) exposure of human primary fibroblasts (cells found in connective tissue) to a 50Hz MF at a flux density of 1mT induces a slight but significant increase of DNA fragmentation which is caused by the magnetic rather than the electric field.

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