Radiation literature survey

Authored By:

This is an animal study investigating the effects of RF exposure on the brain. A group of mice were exposed to RF at a frequency of 835 MHz and a SAR of 4 W/kg (twice the public exposure limit in the Australian RF Standard), for 5 h/d, for 12 weeks. The authors assessed any changes on the properties of nerve cells in the mice brains. It was found that RF exposure resulted in damage to the insulating sheath of the nerve fibres (myelin) and that the mice displayed hyperactivity-like behaviour. The authors suggested that prolonged very high RF exposure can lead to neurological disorders.

Link to PubMed abstract

Published In:

Authored By:

Summary:

This cohort study investigated the association between use of wireless devices and health symptom reports in adolescents. A total of 439 students aged 12-17 years participated at the start of the study and a year later 425 students participated at a follow-up investigation, where they were asked about health symptoms and wireless device use via questionnaires. Mobile phone use data was obtained from the operator for 234 participants. The authors also estimated the RF exposure that participants were exposed to, via calculations. For many of the health symptoms assessed in the study, the associations with measures related to usage of wireless devices were stronger compared to measures related to the RF exposure. Whilst this study found that an increase in self-reported symptoms was. associated with use of wireless devices, the authors concluded that it is the use of mobile devices causing the symptoms rather than the RF exposure.

Link to PubMed abstract

Published In:

This study by Schoeni et al. made a comparison between subjective data (self-reported information on mobile phone use) and objective data (mobile operator’s information). It was found that the self-reported information on mobile phone call duration was reported at seven times higher than that recorded by the operator. This suggests a recall bias with the self-reported information.

The reports by the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (PDF 5 mb) (SCENIHR) and the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) (PDF 1.5 mb) which were both produced in 2015 have maintained the conclusion that RF exposure is not causally linked to any health symptoms usually reported by individuals with electromagnetic hypersensitivity.

Authored By:

This human provocation study investigated whether electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) is associated with electromagnetic fields (EMF) exposure. A total of 42 persons who identified themselves as EHS participated. The first part of the study involved exposing the participants to various EMF signals (radiofrequency, RF at mobile phone/Wi-Fi/cordless phone frequencies or extremely low frequency magnetic fields, ELF MF at power frequency) to determine the level (up to 6 volts per meter, V/m for RF and up to 6.6 microtesla µT for ELF MF) and the type of EMF signal to which each participant reported being sensitive. Once the type of EMF and level was set, each participant underwent second testing in a double-blind manner, and the sequence of sham and exposure conditions was randomised. The authors found that the EHS individuals were not able to distinguish exposure from sham conditions better than chance.

Link to PubMed abstract

Published In:

The study by van Moorselaar et al is one of a few studies which have employed the strategy of conducting the experiment at the study participants’ chosen place (mostly their homes), aimed to reduce the anxiety associated with being tested in an unfamiliar place e.g. the laboratory.

As mentioned in an ARPANSA Fact Sheet on EHS, several studies have indicated that the nocebo effect (an adverse effect due to the belief that something is harmful) may cause some individuals to associate the EMF exposure to the occurrence of their health symptoms. The study by van Moorselaar et al found that over four months of follow-up after the double-blind testing, the EHS individuals who participated in the study and were aware of the results had reported fewer symptoms and reduced severity of symptoms. The authors suggested that this improvement in their health symptoms may be due to a participation effect. This implied that EHS individuals could benefit from this type of testing by hypothetically reducing the nocebo responses.

Authored By:

This is a measurement study which assessed the RF exposure resulting from the long term evolution (LTE) of mobile phone technology. Measurements at ten mobile phone base stations were conducted, and the LTE signals were compared to other mobile phone technologies. The average and maximum power density contribution of LTE signals to the overall mobile phone networks signals were found to be 7.8% and 36.7%, respectively. The authors concluded that the RF exposure from LTE was far below the public exposure limit in the international EMF guidelines developed by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (PDF 647 kb), which is in line with the Australian Standard. The highest LTE exposure recorded was 0.645 V/m, which is less than 2% of the public exposure limit of the Australian Standard.

Link to PubMed abstract

Published In:

Authored By:

This is a meta-analysis of studies investigating the use of mobile phone and parotid gland tumour. A total of three case-control studies (which captured 5,087 subjects in total) were included in the analysis. Mobile phone use was associated with an increased risk of developing parotid gland tumour (odds ratio, OR = 1.28, 95% confidence intervals, 95% CI = 1.09 – 1.51). The authors concluded that mobile phone use may be associated with parotid gland tumour.

Link to PubMed abstract

Published In:

Authored By:

Summary:

This animal study investigated the effect of mobile phone use on the immune system. A total of 48 rats were divided into six groups and kept for 30 days: (i) sham-exposed; (ii) given vitamin D only; (iii) exposed for 1 hour per day (h/day); (iv) exposed for 2 h/day; (v) exposed for 1 h/day and given vitamin D; (vi) exposed for 2 h/day and given vitamin D. The exposure was at a frequency of 900 megahertz (MHz) and at a specific absorption rate (SAR) of 0.9 watts per kilogram (W/kg) which is 45% of the public exposure limit in the Australian Standard. The authors found that RF exposure negatively affected the immune system and that vitamin D may have reversed the negative effect induced by the exposure.

Link to PubMed abstract

Published In:

Authored By:

This is an in vitro study that looked into the relationship between RF exposure and DNA damage. The study used different cells found in the human nervous system, where they were exposed intermittently to RF (5 minutes on and 10 minutes off) at a frequency of 1800 MHz and SAR of 4 W/kg (twice the public exposure limit in the Australian RF Standard) for 1, 6, or 24 hours. The authors found that RF exposure above the public exposure limit did not cause DNA damage or any abnormal cellular behaviour.

Link to PubMed abstract

Published In:

Authored By:

p>This is a human provocation study that looked into the effects of ELF electromagnetic fields (EMF) on the human heart. A total of 22 people who participated in the study were exposed to pulsed ELF EMF at a magnetic flux density of up to 6.45 µT (about 3% of the public exposure limit in the ICNIRP guidelines). The electrocardiograms (ECGs) of each participant were compared before and after the exposure to pulsed ELF EMF. The authors found that the short exposure time to pulsed ELF EMF led to a small change in one of the parameters captured by the ECGs.

Link to PubMed abstract

Published In:

Authored By:

Summary:

This animal study investigated the effects of ELF MF on social behaviour. A total of 120 rats were equally divided into an exposed group (either 9 or 30 days of ELF MF exposure) and unexposed group. In each group, the rats were equally divided into 3 sub-groups where they were exposed to different levels of estrogen. The exposure was at a frequency of 60 Hertz (Hz) and magnetic flux density of 1 millitesla (five times the public exposure limit in the international guidelines developed by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, ICNIRP). The rats were tested for their learning ability to recognise other rats that they have encountered, and their brains were also extracted and analysed. The authors found that the effect of ELF MF exposure on social behaviour may be estrogen-dependent.

Link to PubMed abstract

Published In:

Authored By:

This is a measurement study that evaluated the typical children’s exposure to extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields (MF) in France. A total of 977 children aged up to 14 years were involved in the study, where their 24-hour personal exposures were measured using a MF meter. A mean MF level of 0.4 microtesla (µT) and above was found in 3.1% of the kids. However about 16% of the kids reported to have placed the MF meter near the alarm clock while sleeping, hence bringing down the proportion of those with a mean MF level of 0.4 µT and above from 3.1% to 0.8%.

Link to PubMed abstract

Published In: