Authored By:
Danker-Hopfe H, Dorn H, Bolz T, Peter A, Hansen ML, Eggert T, Sauter CThis human provocation study looked into the effects of radiofrequency (RF) exposure on sleep quality. Thirty young male participants were subjected to three nights of each exposure condition: sham, GSM (900 megahertz, MHz), and WCDMA/UMTS (2 gigahertz, GHz). The exposure was for the whole night (8 hours), with the specific absorption rate (SAR) set to reach but not exceed 2 watts per kilogram (W/kg) which is the limit for general public exposure in the Australian RF Standard. In 90% of the subjects, one or more sleep parameters were significantly different during GSM or WCDMA/UMTS exposure when compared to the sham exposure. However there was no consistent pattern in sleep parameter changes among the subjects. The authors found that in about 30% of the subjects there was a prolonged period of one of the sleep stages (rapid eye movement sleep) during the RF exposure, although this result does not indicate a sleep disturbance.
Published In:
Environ Res 2015; 145 : 50–60Studies investigating the effects of RF exposure on sleep quality have so far given inconsistent results. This study by Danker-Hopfe et al. also reviewed the main findings of many other studies done in this area, where the majority of the studies did not find any effects. Findings of some studies were conflicting with each other – two studies reported reduced sleep latency but one study reported prolonged sleep latency. A previous study by Danker-Hopfe et al. in 2010 did not find any effects on sleep quality (reported in June 2010’s literature report).
