Radiation literature survey

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The International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection has published guidelines for the protection of workers against established adverse health effects arising from exposure to static magnetic fields and time-varying magnetic fields below 1 Hz and to avoid sensory effects which may be annoying and impair working ability (including vertigo, nausea, visual sensations, metallic taste and various neurocognitive effects). This includes, but is not limited to workers engaged in activities related to magnetic resonance imaging.

The Guidelines are available from the ICNIRP.

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This is a review on the effects of electric, magnetic, and electromagnetic fields on melatonin and cortisol secretion, the two major markers of the circadian system as well as on sleep. The results of relevant studies to date are largely contradictory and inconsistent in their findings. The authors conclude that the hypothesis on disruption of melatonin secretion as being caused by electromagnetic fields is not supported by the epidemiological and experimental data.

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This is an in vitro study investigating whether the RF EMFs from smartphones can cause harm to human tissues. Adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) were incubated under a smartphone connected to a Wi-Fi network, which was uploading files for 10 hours a day, for a total of 5 days. Two groups of control cells were incubated under a temperature of 37°C and 39°C, respectively. It was found that the cell proliferation rate was higher in Wi-Fi-exposed cells and 39°C control cells compared with 37°C control cells, which the authors point out may be attributable to the thermal effects of Wi-Fi exposure. Other analyses showed no remarkable differences among the 3 groups. The authors conclude that there are no harmful effects from a smartphone’s Wi‑Fi exposure to human ASCs.

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This cross-sectional study investigated whether using a mobile phone is associated with adverse health symptoms in children. The study included 2042 randomly selected children aged 11-15 years who provided information on their mobile phone use. Information on perceived health symptoms reported by their parents was also collected. Mobile phone use was associated with headaches and migraine (odds ratio, OR = 1.42, 95% confidence interval, 95% CI = 1.12-1.81) and skin itches (OR = 1.84, 95% CI = 1.47-2.29). The authors suggest for a more cautious use of mobile phones in children, due to the expected longer lifetime exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF EMFs) from mobile phones.

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This retrospective cohort study investigated whether occupational exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields (ELF MF) is associated with neurodegenerative disease. In the study, 73,051 electricity supply employees in the UK, hired between1952-82, were followed from 1973 till 2010 for neurodegenerative disease mortality. Exposure to occupational ELF MF was calculated using engineering data to determine the average magnetic fields in specified areas of work and then applied to information about the time spent in these areas. The study found no statistically significant associations between neurodegenerative disease and lifetime, recent (less than 10 years), or distant (more than 10 years) exposure to magnetic fields. The authors conclude that there is no convincing evidence to support the hypothesis that exposure to ELF MF is a risk factor for neurodegenerative disease.

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There have been many studies investigating the association between ELF MF exposure and neurodegenerative disease (see meta-analysis by Vergara et al 2013, presented in the February 2013 report). Further research is required in this area as other studies have shown a possible association.

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This paper presents results from a survey of RF electromagnetic field levels at 94 sites across four urban areas in the USA. Results are compared with those obtained by a similar, although much larger, study at 15 major metropolitan areas conducted prior to the introduction of mobile phone networks in 1980. The authors also discuss their results in the context of more recent studies in several European countries. All measured values were found to be far lower than the maximum permissible exposure limit for the general public mandated by the Federal Communications Commission in the USA. FM radio was found to be the dominant contributor to the measured RF levels.

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This review looks at whether exposure to ELF magnetic fields affects reproductive function. The review concludes that there is no established evidence from epidemiological and in vivo studies. However there is increasing evidence that exposure to ELF magnetic fields is involved with germ cell apoptosis in testes. This review proposes the possible mechanism of germ cell apoptosis in testes induced by ELF magnetic fields.

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This is a case-control study investigating whether maternal lifestyle risk factors including mobile phone and computer use are associated with threatened miscarriage. In the study self-reported duration of mobile phone and computer use per day is compared between 154 cases (women presenting with threatened miscarriage in the 5th to 10th weeks of gestation) and 264 controls. There were statistically significant associations between mobile phone and computer use and threatened miscarriage; for mobile phone use of more than 2 hours/day the OR was 6.32 (95% CI 2.71 – 14.75) and for computer use of more than 4 hours/day the OR was 6.03 (95% CI 2.82 – 12.88). The authors conclude that mobile phone and computer use could be related to threatened miscarriage.

Lifestyle Risk Factors Associated with Threatened Miscarriage: A Case-Control Study

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This meta-analysis investigated whether exposure to extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields is associated with breast cancer. The meta-analysis included results from sixteen case-control studies, published from 2000 to 2007. The authors reported that, for premenopausal women, the occurrence of breast cancer was related to ELF magnetic fields (odds ratio, OR, 1.25, 95% confidence interval, 95% CI, 1.05 – 1.49), but not for menopausal women (OR 1.04, 95% CI 0.93-1.18). The authors conclude that exposure to ELF magnetic fields may be a risk factor for breast cancer when women are non-menopausal.

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The hypothesis that long-term exposure to relatively weak ELF magnetic fields could increase the risk of breast cancer is based on the assumption that magnetic field exposure suppresses nocturnal melatonin production and that melatonin is a protective factor against breast cancer, possibly by affecting the level of estrogen.

A previous meta-analysis of 23 case-control studies by Chen et al (2013) also found that exposure to ELF magnetic fields may be related to an increased risk of female breast cancer for premenopausal women (see July 2013 report).

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This is a systematic review of eight epidemiological studies investigating the association between physiotherapists’ occupational exposure to radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic fields from shortwave and microwave diathermy devices and adverse pregnancy outcomes. The reproductive outcomes analysed included: spontaneous abortion, delayed time to pregnancy of more than 6 months, altered gender ratio, low birth weight, still birth and congenital malformations in the physiotherapists’ offspring. The authors identified that the lack of data on the intensity and duration of RF exposure and the distances to diathermy devices, to be the major flaw in most of the reviewed studies. The authors concluded that the findings of the reviewed studies for adverse reproductive outcomes are not consistent enough to draw a causal relationship with RF exposure from diathermy devices and that further research is warranted.

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