Effects of Extremely low frequencies and GSM frequencies on

Human health

Jingwen Luo, Ameen Alshihab

Electrical and Computer Engineering Department

University of Colorado at Boulder

Boulder, Colorado

Contents: 1. Abstract …………………………………………………………………... 2

2. Introduction ………………………………………………………………… 3

3. Background ………………………………………………………………… 3

3.1The effects to organ Function ……………...………………………….. 3

3.2The effects on Human DNA ……………...………………………….. 4

3.3Biological effects from electromagnetic field ……………………….. 5

3.4Effects of ELF on Immune System ……………...……………………… 7

4. Effects of GSM frequency……………...………………………………………. 8

4.1 Effects of GSM frequencies on nerve cells. (by Ameen)…………………. 8

4.2 Effects of GSM frequencies on brain glucose metabolism. (by Ameen)..... 9

4.3 Effects of GSM frequencies on blood brain barrier (BBB). (by Ameen).... 10

4.4 GSM waves exposure and behavior alteration. (by Ameen)........................ 11

4.5 Effects of GSM frequencies on pregnancy and children behavior. (by Ameen) 14

4.6 Effects of GSM frequencies on cognitive abilities. (by Ameen)................. 15

4.7 Effects of microwave frequencies on the biological tissues. (by Ameen).... 16

4.8 Effects of GSM frequencies on fertility in men. (by Ameen)............... 19

4.9 Effects of GSM frequencies on sleep and EEG (Ameen).................... 20

4.10 Cancer and phone transmission base stations (by Ameen)

4.13 Feasibility of epidemiological studies of phone base stations. (by Ameen)

4.14 General review of epidemiological studies of phone base stations.

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5. Conclusion

6. Appendix ……………………………………………………………………… 26

Abstract

The paper studies the effect of electromagnetic fields for the cellphone, and provides

information on how the extremely- low- frequency electromagnetic fields will affect people’s

brain, Pineal Function and our DNA. We talk briefly about how the ELF will affects the DNA

strand break, also discuss the affected by the ELF on the health.

Then we dig into the effect of the cell phone causes by the GMS field, like the effects on

the nerve cell, blood brain barrier, brain glucose metabolism and so on.

Introduction

Nowadays, health issues have raised concerns of the effect of exposure to extremely-low-

frequency(ELF) electromagnetic fields. With increasing use of electricity and equipment, like

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clothes washer, hair dryer or Microwave oven, people are more easily exposed under the

magnetic field, especially, as the phone becomes an indispensable device in our daily life. It

operates at 400MHZ and 2000MHZ frequency band, and many researchers report the potential

adverse effects on brain, heart, endocrine system and DNA of humans and animals.

In 1995, Holmberg found out that the ELF magnetic fields can act as copromoter or

promoter of cancers (Holmberg). Relevant to the epidemiological studies, reported occupational

exposure to electromagnetic fields could increase the risks of the development of Alzheimer’s

disease (Sobel et. al); researchers investigate that the magnetic field will damage the DNA and

cause the slow-onset disease later.

For the study on the glial cell in brains affected by the phone, 31 Wistar Albino adult

male rats are tested under 900 MHZ microwave. Three groups are applied (study group, sham

group, and the cage control group). The solution shows that the total antioxidant capacity and

catalase is altered under the 900MHz radiation.

The effects to organ Function To dig into the effects of the ELF, Hjeresen et. al proves that rats spent most of their daily

inactive period in the field (60 Hz); when the field is increase to the 75 kV/m, the rats spend

most of their inactivity out of the field. Moreover, Stern et al in 1980 reported data proves that

the rats may be able to detect fields as low as 5kV/m.

To show that there are some neuroendocrinology effects of this prolonged exposure to the

electric field, Croza et. al and Free et. al reported that when rats exposed under 50-Hz and 100-

kV/M electric fields for 2 h, it had significantly higher levels of plasma antidiuretic hormone

compared to the group without exposure under the field. When they dig into this result, they

found the levels of urinary and blood catecholamines will also alter under 50-Hz and 100-kV/M

fields for 6 h or 12 days in 1978. Free et al have reported in 1981 that there is some subtle

changes in endocrine levels after exposure under 60-Hz fields.

However, in another laboratory, they failed to identify any effects under the exposure.

That have been caused by each rat having different reaction under the magnitude field. Soma

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Sarker, Sher Ali and J.Behari discovered that there are distinctly altered in the range of 7-8 kb

under 1mW/cm^2 for 2h/day at a frequency of 2.45 GHz, but the result of the mechanism of the

rearrangement is not yet clear.

When the rats exposed under 65Kv/m for 20h/day for 30 days, an alteration was observed

in serotonin-N-acetyl transferase activity, with lower levels measured in pineal glands from

exposed animals. To notify the effect of the mammalian endocrine function, Bary and his

colleague measured the melatonin, 5-methoxytryptophol and serotonin-N- acetyltransferase

activity in pineal glands of rats exposed at 65 kV/m for 30 days. The result still show

complexity, because it is hard to limit the input .

The effects on Human DNA

To study the DNA strand break in brain cells of animals, Henry Lai et. al expose the rats

under 0.1,0.25 and 0.5 mT. Their data focuses more on the possible implication for the health

effect under 60Hz magnetic field, and how that leads to the DNA strand break affecting cellular

function, which leads to cell death.The extremely-low- frequency(ELF) electromagnetic fields

can cause multiple effects on DNA. Singh’s research on the 60 Hz magnetic field caused a dose-

dependent increase in DNA strand break in brain cell on rat Brain sell.An increase in single-

strand DNA breaks was observed after exposure to magnetic fields of 0.1, 0.25, and 0.5 mT,

whereas an increase in double-strand DNA breaks was observed at 0.25 and 0.5 mT.

New Because DNA strand breaks may affect cellular functions, they can lead to

carcinogenesis and cell death, and be related to the onset of neurodegenerative diseases.

Many epidemiological studies suggest that the ELF electromagnetic field will increase

the risk of various types of cancer including leukemia and brain breast tumors. The result shows

that to exposure to a 60 Hz magnetic field cause an increase in both single-strand and double-

strand DNA to break in brain cells of rats. One reason may cause that result is the field addict

enzymatic process involved in DNA repair, leads to DNA strand break. According to the

multistep and clonal, they found a 60 Hz magnetic field causes model of the origin of cancer.

Tumorigenesis is a multistage density 0.1 mT and double-strand breaks at 0.5 and process,

mainly initiation followed by promotion, is 1.0 mT. Thus, DNA strand break could lead to

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disruption of cell function and carcinogensis and a relationship between a increase in breaks and

aging and neurodegenerative disorders has been suggested.

Targovnik et al and Wheeler and Lett suggest cumulative damage in DNA in cells. An

increase in DNA strand breaks in body cells could have important implication for the health

effect of exposure to ELF magnetic field. Also, the several investigators contend that

accumulated DNA damage in neurons and other patriotic cells in the primary factory in aging

and death of an organism. Not only the gender, age also matters with the magnetic field.

Chetsanga et. al showed that the rate of neuronal DNA single-strand breakage is higher in older

than in young mice. Recent epidemiological studies report that occupational exposure to

electromagnetic field could increase the risk of development at Alzheimer’s disease. Calcium is

the other compound could alter by the ELF in neurons and induce oxidative stress.

There is evidence show that ELF can increase ioid beta which is the risk factor for

Alzheimer’s disease in the brain. Moreover, ELF will reduce melatonin levels, which melatonin

is used to protect the against Alzheimer’s disease.

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Biological effects from electromagnetic field

Nowaday, there is increasing concern of the potential health risk from power frequency

field, and from radiofrequency emission. Base on international research and public policy

initiative, the EMDs exposure can cause “childhood leukaemia, brain tumours, genotoxic effects,

neurological effects and neurodegenerative diseases, immune system deregulation, allergic and

inflammatory responses, breast cancer, miscarriage and some cardiovascular effects”(Lennart

Hardell)

Childhood leukaemia is the most detail area for the electromagnetic field. It is the most

frequent childhood malignancy from age 2 to age 5.The existing evidence proves that there is a

continuous increase of risk with increasing levels of average magnetic field exposure(about 0.3 ~

0.4 microTesla). This result prove that the if you expose under power frequency ELFs during

pregnancy or early life, the risk of the childhood leukaemia will be increased. BioInitiative

Report conclude that “the increased risk of childhood leukaemia with chronic exposure to ELFs

is sufficient to warrant revision of ELF public safety limits”(Lennart Hardell) .

The ELFs not only affect the childhood leukemia, many of these studies report that ELF

exposures related to increased risk of breast cancer. With the studies, the risk for the breast

cancer for woman will increase when expose under 10mG(1.0 micorT) and higher. Under

exposure(6 mG and 12 mG or 0.6~1.2 mT), the human breast cancer cells would have protective

effects of melatonin for the growth of these breast cancer cells. And there are more and more

evidence show that human breast cancer cells grow faster if exposed to ELF at low

environmental levels, because the ELF have reduce melatonin level in the body.

Although the result shows differently, it is clearly demonstrated that under some

conditions of exposure, the brain and nervous system functions of humans are altered. The

nervous system continue to develop until late adolescence for children, and the exposure have

the bioeffects and adverse health impacts. For adults, especially for the person who work in years

of exposure of the yond to both ELF and RF, their capacity of thinking, judgment, memory,

learning, and control over behavior will decreasing.

For the effects of RF EMF on global gene and protein expression, most of them is focus

on the mobile phone utilization frequency(800 - 2000 MHz) at relatively low exposure density.

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However, the consequences of most of the changed genes are still unclear. But as there are more

and more people did researches on the cell phone, the bio-effect caused by the cell phone is

counted.

Effects of ELF on Immune System

The interaction of ELF-MF with cells induce alterations in cell physiological processes

such as differentiation, proliferation and signal transduction. Simko and Mattsson found ELF-

MF induces ROS production in different immune relevant cell types which shows the data from

the literature, an interaction between EMF and cellular systems is plausible.

Daniela Frasca et. al find the effect of MF exposure on thymus and spleen cell number on

Mice. The result shows that the total number of thymocytes as well as their response to the T cell

mitogen Con A would decrease under exposing. And the number of spleen cell will increased

after 7 days and decrease 14 days then recover at the later time which suggest that ELF field

modify both cell numbers and proliferative activities in the thymus and in the spleen. So,

exposure under ELF will induced their central and peripheral lymphoid tissues a cytotoxic effect,

which counteracted by a spontaneous recovery take place in short time. With the absence of

myelotoxicity, the cells in bone marrow have ability to mobilize and colonize lymphoid

compartments.

Walleczek J. demonstrate under the exposures of cells of the immune system to

extremely low-frequency(ELF) electromagnetic field(<300 HZ) can elicit cellular changes which

relevant to vivo immune activity. Also, a similar responsiveness to “nonionizing electromagnetic

energy in this frequency range have been documented for tissues of the neuroendocrine and

musculoskeletal system”(Walleczek J.). Generally, researchers believed that living systems

coupling to the cell membrane and Ca(2+) involved in bioactive ELF field.

Effects of GSM Frequencies7

Effects of GSM frequencies on nerve cells.

A study was done by the Lund University hospital, Lund, Sweden that assess the damage

done to the nerve cells due to the exposure to GSM microwave. TEM cells were used in this

study. TEM cells stand for transverse electromagnetic cells and they are test chambers for

electromagnetic wave exposure studies to generate uniform magnetic field exposure for

standardized measurements. A mobile phone was used and connected to the TEM cells by a

coaxial cable. The TEM cells were placed in a wooden box and the temperature inside the cells

were controlled and set to room temperature.(2)

The team has used 32 male and female rats aging between 12-26 weeks with weight of

282±91g. The rats were divided into four groups each group has 8 rats. Three groups were

exposed to GSM output power of 10mW, 100mW, and 1000mW respectively for 2 hours. The

fourth group was kept inside a non-active TEM cell and same environmental conditions.

The all groups were kept for 50 days after exposure and the researchers carefully

observed their behavior and they were finally decapitated and their brains were removed from

their skulls.

A histology analysis of the brains was performed for all four groups. The control group

showed moderate number of dark neurons. They also showed no significant presence of albumin

outside the hypothalamus. However, the exposed groups showed more dark neurons and several

albumin positive foci in both white and gray matter. This shows a correlation between non-

thermal electromagnetic waves and dark neurons in the rat brains. The team observed damaged

neurons in the cortex, hippocampus and the basal ganglia of the exposed rats. (2)

The results of this study are interesting. I wonder if these findings would be consistent with the

experiment replicated on human brains.

Effects of GSM frequencies on brain glucose metabolism

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In another study done in Turku university hospital in Helsinki, Finland, a group of

researchers investigated the effects of mobile phone radiations on cerebral glucose metabolism in

the human brain. (3) 13 young healthy right handed male participants aging from 21 to 29 years

old that did not have any history of neurological illness. The participants fasted for 8 hours were

injected with F deoxy glucose tracer (FDG). Subjects were then exposed 902.MHz GSM in real

and sham sets for half an hour. The participants were asked to do simple visual tasks where they

were asked to response to certain stimuli that appeared on a screen for 0.5 seconds by clicking on

a mouse. and brain temperature measurements were recorded while a brain emission scan was

performed during the exposure to the GSM waves. (3) MRI imaging of the participants brain was

acquired prior to the study to make sure that there were not any brain abnormalities. (3)

The GSM source that was used was Nokia 6110 that was continuously transmitting GSM

voice signals of 0.577 milliseconds bursts of 902.4 MHz every 4.615 milliseconds.

Temperature measurements of different parts of the head was carried out at 1-minute

interval during the exposure session. Surface temperature probes were placed on participants

head. One on forehead, two on the outer eye corners, two on the cheeks and two inside the ear

canal. (3)

Participants were scanned with PET

scanner for 30 minutes to trace the injected

FDG. MRI images were superimposed over

the PET scan images to get images for the

gray matter. Also, blood samples were

collected prior and after exposure to GSM

waves.

The research team got the following

results. The maximum SAR for 10g in the

brain tissue was 0.74 W/kg and the largest amount of radiation was absorbed in the right

temporal lobe. Look at table1. (3)

The research team has also observed a significant temperature rise in the right side of the

brain during exposure to GSM radiation. Both the MRI and PET scans revealed a significant

decrease in glucose metabolism in the temporal and temporoparietal cortex of the right

hemisphere of the brain during the exposure to GSM radiation. (3)

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Effects of GSM frequencies on blood brain barrier (BBB)

The blood brain barrier is a hydrophobic barrier of vascular endothelial cells in the brain

that have tight junctions. BBB is important to protect the brain from harmful substances that

might be circulating in the blood. A normal functioning BBB is supposed to allow water and

lipid soluble molecules and pure elements such as oxygen to diffuse from the blood to the nerve

cells in the brain. Large molecules such as proteins are supposed to be blocked from entering the

nerve cells. A damaged BBB is less selective, allowing large molecules that could potentially be

toxic to enter the nerve cells compromising the entire nervous system and the brain. This could

cause irreversible brain damage or cerebral edema.

In a study similar to the first one that was also done in Lund Hospital in Lund, Sweden, a

team of researchers investigated the long-term effect of GSM waves on the blood brain barrier

with the focus on the effects after 7 days of exposure. The team has used 48 male and female rats

of 2-3 months old. The weight of males was 225±56g and 233±60g for females. (4)

The rats were divided into four groups, 8 in each group, and housed inside TEM cells at

temperature of 22 C. Three groups were subjected to GSM power output resulting in average

whole-body SAR of 0.12mW/kg, 1.2mW/kg, and 12mW/kg respectively. The last group was a

sham group. The rats were given a recovery period of 7 days before they were decapitated after

which their brains were extracted in a non-traumatic technique. The number of foci under

microscope were recorded. (4)

The results of the study were similar to previous studies, where they found an increase in

albumin positive foci in the white and gray matter of the brain. In the exposed rats. The quantity

of albumin outside brain vessels suggests change in BBB permeability. The team has concluded

that brain exposure to GSM waves results in changing the BBB permeability. The change was

observable within 7 days of exposure. However, the researchers believe that the change might be

permanent, especially with recurrent exposure the GSM waves. (4)

GSM waves exposure and behavior alteration.

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Since it was observed that GSM waves alter some properties of the brain, it is possible

that these waves could have some effects on the behavior and psychology.

A study was done in the university of KwaZulu Natal in South Africa (5) to investigate the

effects of mobile phone radiation on the behavior of rats. The study used two groups of rats,

sham and exposure groups. (5) Each group has 6 male and 6 female rats. The exposure group

was exposed to GSM of 840 MHz waves for 3 hours per day. The transmitting antenna was

placed 2.5m above the floor and 0.9m away from the exposed rats. The control group was kept in

the same conditions as the exposed group except that it was not exposed to the GSM radiation.

The researchers tried to distribute the radiation among the exposed group evenly throughout the

cage. (5)

The researchers then carried out several behavioral tests. Morris water maze test was

utilized to assess the spatial memory and learning ability of the rats. This test was carried out in

four trials for each rat with 30 minutes recovery between each trail. The researchers used a pool

of water with temperature 22C that has a platform for the rats to sit on. The rat would be put in

one side of the pool and then would be allowed to swim until the rat can find the other platform.

If the rat does not find the other platform within 1 minute, it would be picked and placed on the

platform. Then it would be dried and returned to its cage allowing it to have 30 minutes recovery

period before the next trail. After the 4 trails, the rats underwent two tests to get to the platform

without help and the time the rat took to reach the other platform was measured and used as an

indicator for the learning ability. In the third test, the platform was removed, and the time spent

in the target quadrant was recorded as an indicator of the rat spatial memory. Some rats

experienced freezing behavior, in which the rat would float without movement. (5)

The second behavioral test was the open field test. This test would involve placing the rat

inside a 1m x 1m box with height of 50 cm for 5 minutes. The box floor is divided into squares.

This test would assess the anxiety level and mood disturbance of the rats using three parameters.

The first parameter was the locomotor activity, which indicates the number of squared crossed.

The higher the locomotor activity, the higher the anxiety of the rat. The second parameter is the

exploratory behavior. The more stressed the rat, the less it want to explore the surrounding

environment. The third parameter is grooming. A more stressed rat would increase grooming of

the rat since it’s a behavior of self-soothing when the rat gets anxious. (5)

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After the behavioral tests were performed, the rats were decapitated, and samples of their

blood plasma were collected and frozen. The corticosterone levels in the plasma were measured.

(5)

The team did not find any significant difference in the time the rat took to find the

platform in the Morris water maze test or the time spent in the correct quadrant. However, the

researchers observed that all exposed animals experienced freezing behavior more than the

control group. Freezing behavior is an indicator of depression and helplessness in the Porsolt

forced swim test. Moreover, the exposed male rats spent more time grooming then the control

group. (5)

They researchers also found that the exposed rats had more corticosterone in their plasma

then the control rats. The researchers concluded that the GSM waves did not have significant

effects the on the learning ability of the rats and they think that the time exposure could be

inadequate. However, because of the freezing behavior in the Morris water maze test among the

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exposed males and the increased grooming in the open field test, the researchers concluded that

exposure to mobile phone radiation could result in behavioral abnormalities in the rats.

Effects of GSM frequencies on pregnancy and children

behavior.

A study that was done by a Danish and American team with the Danish National Birth

Cohort (DNBC) data analyze the potential effects of the cell phones during and after pregnancy

on children’s behavioral development. (6) what makes this paper interesting is that over 13159

children were enrolled in the first study and 28745 enrolled in the second study. The results were

replicated in a group of 41541 participants. The main thesis of the paper is: cell phones are

sources of exposure to radiofrequency fields (RF). Children maybe at high potential behavioral

health effects due to high specific absorption rates of RF than adults. The study mainly focuses

on behavioral health of the children which I find it to be a subjective. However, the study found

associations between cell phone use and alter in behavior and cognitive abilities of 13159

children in Denmark. (6) In the first cohort, there was a small positive association between the

cell phone use after pregnancy with behavioral problems. In the next study done by the same

group, they decide to consider associations of prenatal only, postnatal only and both assed at age

7 years old and 11 years old. 91661 Danish pregnant women participated in this study between

1996 and 2002. When children turned 7 years, the mothers were asked to fill a detailed

questionnaire focusing on child’s health and developmental behavior. (6)Half of the participant

were asked to complete the questionnaire when their children reached 11 years old. (6) The

questionnaire the mothers were asked to respond to details the number of times they spoke on

cell phone per day during pregnancy and whether or not the child used a cell phone 1 hour per

week, or more than 1 hour per week. 0= no use of cellphone, 1 prenatal use only, 2= age seven

use only, 3= both prenatal and age seven use. The mothers were then asked to fill a 25 question

Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in which the mother’s response 1=not true, 2=

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partly true, 3= very true. The children were then classified as “normal”, “borderline”, and

abnormal”. The researchers also took into account several factors such as; gender, mother’s age

at birth, parents psychiatric and cognitive history. (6) So, the researchers assessed cell phone use

at 7 years old and during pregnancy and associated behavioral problems in age 11 years. The

results that the researchers reached were as follows: Half of the children at age 7 years old who

be at risk of behavioral problems used cell phones with 21% prenatally used cell phone and 16%

postnatally used cell phones. 19% used both. At 11 years old, 2% of the children at age 11 years

had abnormal behavior, 3% were borderline, and 95% were normal. The main conclusion of the

team is that either the radiofrequency exposure is a possible cause the cell phones themselves are

the cause of the development change. I am a little conflicted about the conclusions the researches

got to especially that there are many factors to consider, like whether or not those children that

were considered “abnormal” play video games or have other habits. (6)

Effects of GSM frequencies on cognitive abilities (7)

This study assesses the effects of the electromagnetic waves that are produced by mobile

phones on the human brain and his cognitive abilities. (7) This study was conducted in the

Ondokuz Mayis medical university in Turkey. 60 healthy female medical students aging 18-25

years old were grouped into two groups. First group is students that spend less than 30 minutes a

day with the phone near their head (talking into the phone). (7) The other group is for the

students who spend more than 90 minutes with the phone near their head. Mobile phone operates

in the frequencies of 1.8 - 2.2 giga hearts(GHz) and they are being widely used among the

younger population. So, it is important to understand the potential physical and psychological

risks that they could pose to their users. (7) While using a mobile phone, the human brain is

being exposed to high specific absorption rate, because of its proximity to the antenna of the

phone that both receive and transmit concentrated amount of energy. (7) This study focuses on

evaluating the effects of electromagnetic waves emitted by mobile phone son the hippocampus.

The researchers used a 1.5 T MRI scanner. (7) The designers of the experiment could not find

people from in the same age and background that has not used mobile phone to be set as a

control group. So, they decided to go with people who use phone for less than 30 min as their

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control group. (7) Since most of the participants were right handed, the researchers decided to

evaluate the images of the right side of the hippocampus. The researchers used magnetic

resonance spectroscopy (MRS) since it helps detecting the levels of metabolites and glial

conditions and could help assess aging at molecular level. (7) The researchers used MR images

to determine the average volume of the hippocampus for the participants. The participants were

asked to perform neuropsychological tests between 10:00 am and 11:00 am. Other tests that were

performed include Hanoi tower test, which is a test that assesses the planning skills. (7) Stroop

tests, which is a test the assesses the attention of people given certain stimuli. Digit symbol test.

Digit span tests to assess the memory of the subjects. Beck depression inventory test, which is a

self-report test of 21 questions scaling from 0-4. K.A.S test, in which the subjects are asked to

state as many words as they can with response to specific letters from specific category. (7) The

results that the researcher team found was that there was no statistically significance difference

between the low and high exposure groups when it comes to the mental functions, executive

function tests, memory or cell aging. However, they found that there is a significant difference

only in the stroop and digit span tests both are tests designed to assess attention of participants.

However, the researchers say that some previous studies with rats have concluded that EMF

waves are beneficial to the cognitive abilities and other studies have not found a link between

EMF waves and cognitive effects.so the results are inconsistent and further research is needed. I

think that the main reason the high exposure group scored lower in the concentration and

attention tests was because they are used to being distracted by different stimuli, including

mobile phones which resulted in them scoring lower in those two tests. However, I think it would

be interesting if the study would be in a larger scale and include people with larger age gap. (7)

Effects of microwave frequencies on the biological tissues (8)

This study attempts to consolidate our understanding of the effects of electromagnetic

waves on the dielectric properties namely, the conductivity and the permittivity of biological

tissues in the frequency range of 10 Hz to 20 GHz. (8)

The study is based on three experimental techniques of measuring dielectric properties. An open

ended coaxial probe was used. The measurements were collected using an automatic swept

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frequency network and impedance analyzers. (8) HP4192A was used to measure frequencies in

the range of 10 Hz to 10 MHz. HP8753C used for frequency range of 300 kHz to 3 GHz. Finally,

HP8720 was used to measure frequencies from 130 HHz to 20 GHz. A 50 Ohms matching

impedance conical probe was used with the HP4192A impedance analyzer. (8) It has a

capacitance and conductance as functions of physical dimensions and have stray capacitive and

inductive elements that need to be normalized, which both increase as the frequency and the

conductivity increase. (8) The dielectric properties of any sample could be calculated from the

measurements using some equations. In this study, equivalent tissues from human and different

animal species were used. (8)

In this study, there are two main sources of systematic errors, the first one is electrode

polarization, which is similar to a frequency dependent capacitor connected in series with a

resistor that reduces the magnitude of the power as the frequency increases. The second

systematic error is the lead inductance. (8)

Biological tissue cells that poorly that have poor conductivity shield the electrode from

the ionic current which results in polarization of charges and result in inconsistency in the

measurements. (8)

The team used sheep tissue, pig tissue, human autopsy remanence and skin and tongue.

Most of the animal tissue were collected within 2 hours of death. The human parts were collected

within 24 hours to 48 hours of death. (8)

The results of the experiment were in agreement with the literature and provided more

details about specific frequencies and tissues. The general observation was that the conductivity

increases as the frequency increases and the permittivity decreases as the frequency increases.

The measurements using the three instruments were the best when the same tissue sample is used

throughout the experiment. The team also found that there is no significant difference between

the animal and human tissue of the same organ. However, the variation in tissue properties

between different organs are much more significant. The team noticed that the dielectric

properties of muscle are anisotropic. (8)

In this paper, I have mainly picked studies that I found convincing. So, I would agree

with most of the findings in these studies.

There is strong evidence that GSM waves and generally microwaves have adverse effects

that could permanently change some key properties of the brain, such as damaging nerve cells as

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proven by study (2). Glucose metabolism is also affected as seen in study (3), however, study (3)

did not find any behavioral effects of GSM waves and the researchers argue that the human brain

is a complex biological system, so it is hard attribute any functional changes to the glucose

metabolism change in the brain. Blood brain barrier is proven to have persistent changes due to

exposure to GSM radiation as proven by study (4). I would wish that more research is done to

investigate this change and its effects. Because that change in the BBB of the brain could have

devastating effects on the brain, especially if it is permanent. Study (5) have found psychological

effects of potential depression on rats but did not find any significant cognitive differences

between the exposed rats and control rats. I like this study (5) and its methodology; however, I

think that the researchers should have more exposed and control rats with different ranges of

exposure. I also, think it would be even more interesting if the researchers extend the exposure

period to a couple of months to better simulate the rat exposure to the human exposure of GSM

waves.

For study (6), I do not completely agree with the main conclusion of the researchers,

since there are many factors that could alter the behavior of a child. However, I like how the

study was conducted and the fact that it was a done on a long period of time to try to understand

the long-term effects. I also, like that the study covers a large number of subjects. However, it

does not provide any possible explanation but only shows a correlation between phone use and

change in child behavior.

Both study (5) and (7) found no significant difference in cognitive abilities between

exposed groups and control groups. Those studies had both rats and humans as subjects.

However, it would be interesting if both studies had more exposed subjects and were done on an

extended period of time like study (6) to be able draw stronger conclusions.

Study (9) proves what is already in the bioelectromagnetic literature about the effects of

microwave on the dielectric properties of biological tissues. These effects are subject to further

study on the human psychological and physiological health and more research need to be done to

investigate these effects on both the long term and the short term. I think that phones do pose

potential health risk on the brain based on these studies. More research is needed to better

understand the long-term effects of these risks especially on the blood brain barrier. So, I think

that the concerns that were raised by the California Department of public health are legitimate

and people should try to lower their exposure levels to phone radiation.

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Effects of GSM frequencies on fertility in men. (9)

Scientific research on the RF waves emitted by phones have showed some adverse effects

on many parts of the human and animals. One of these effects include the increase risk of

infertility. (9)

The main parameter of exposure to RF waves is the frequency of which the device is

operating on. Most phones around the world use GSM frequency band which operates in 850-

1800 MHz, while phones in the US operates on 900-1900 MHz. (9)

Higher frequencies of electromagnetic waves correlates to higher energy that can be transmitted.

There are 3 ways in which these frequencies are absorbed. (1) aerial effect: in which the

absorbed energy depends on the size of the body with respect to the frequency wavelength. (2)

coupling of RF wave with the biological tissue. (3) resonant absorption. The amount of

absorption of RF waves in a tissue is measured in SAR (specific absorption rate). Cell phones

exposure (SAR) varies from 0.12 watt/kg to 1.6 watt/kg. (9)

Previous research in the literature has shown that excessive mobile phone use correlates

to difficulty in concentration fatigue headache, increase in reaction time and disturbance in sleep.

However, no evidence is shown that mobile phone RF is likely to increase cancer.(9)

Research in this topic has also shown that the use of mobile phones increase the infertility

of men. Infertility effects about 15% of couples, half of the cases of male factor. Many studies

with some despite some limitations have shown a link between mobile phone use and infertility.

(9)

In a recent study lead by the author of the article, 361 men visiting an infertility clinic

participated in this study. The team has shown adverse effects of phone RF waves and sperm

counts, motility, viability and morphology. The participants who reported spending longer time

on phone had lower sperm parameters. The study did not take into account the initial semen

quality of the participants. (9)

In a study done by Fejes involving 371 men taking infertility evaluations the duration of

using mobile phone is linked to a decrease of motile spermatozoa, which means that excessive

use of mobile phone could pose a risk on sperm motility.(9)

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In a smaller study of 13 men with normal sperm parameters has shown that exposing men

to 6 h a day for 5 days to GSM phone radiation decreases the motility of sperm. Exposure to RF

radiation could induce thermal heating which can cause DNA damage, which can induce

infertility in men. However, the mechanism in which the GSM radiation effects the sperm is still

unclear.(9)

Effects of GSM frequencies on sleep and EEG(14)

Mobile phone use started a public debate on some of the possible health effects on human

body. This includes headache, sleep disturbance, impairment of short term memory and many

other possible adverse health effects. In this study, 437 volunteer participants in the department

of physiology college of medicine, King Khalid University hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

between 2002 and 2003. 55.1% of participants were males and 39.9% were female. Participants

age from 18-42 years and the mean average is 23.74 years for males and 26.44 for females. A

questionnaire was conducted by the researcher in Arabic language as well as in an English

version, in which the participants fill in an interview or by self-completion. The questionnaire

assessed the general health the occupation, medical history, and type of mobile phone of

participants as well as how long they use mobile phone. Participants with history of anemia

blood pressure and any nerve disease were excluded from the study. (14)

59.5% of participants reported daily mobile phone use of 5-10 minutes. 22.4% reported 10-30

minutes. 10.5% reported 30-60 minutes. And 4.6% reported more than 6—120 minutes. And

2.5% reported more than 120 minutes of daily use. 0.5% did not report how long they use mobile

phone.(14)

The research team has found that groups with higher mobile phone use also reported

suffering from headache (21.7% ), sleep disturbance (4%) ,tension (3.9%), fatigue (3%), and

dizziness (2.4%).(14)

The reported headache is consistent with the known non thermal effects of RF waves on

the dopamine levels in the brain.(14)

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The increase of the blood brain barrier permeability is also medically linked to headache.

(14)

The sleep disturbance is also consistent with the effects of GSM waves on the rapid eye

movement during REM sleep cycle.(14)

Cancer and phone transmission base stations

In a study done in Israel in Netanya. Investigators were trying to understand the adverse health

risks raised by the nonionizing extremely low frequency in the range (0-300 Hz) from phone transmitter

stations on the possibility of developing cancer. The investigated area forms half a circle of radius

350 m from a phone transmitter station that was installed in 1996. The transmitter antenna is 10

m high and has a maximum transmission power of 1500 watt. (15)

The team has investigated the number of cancer incidence of people exposed to the radio

frequencies and compared them to the national Israeli rate of the cancer incidents.

The number of participants was 622 people who live within the half circle of radius 350 from the

phone station. The participants lived in this area for at least 3-7 years.

The team has found that out of 622 people, 8 people have developed different kinds of cancer

after only 1 year of installing the phone station. 3 cases of breast cancer, and one case of ovary

carcinoma, lung carcinoma, Hodgkin’s disease, osteoid osteoma, and hypernephroma. Only 1 out

of 8 cases is a smoker, 7 out of 8 cases were women. (15)

The team has found that people living within this area are 4.15 times more likely to develop a

form of cancer than the rest of the population. (15)

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The team excluded the differences of socioeconomic class, sex, ethnicity, or age, because people

in the studied area were very similar to the rest of the population. (15)

The team also found that the measured RF radiation in this area was much lower than the current

guidelines in the county, so they suggested reconsidering these guidelines. (15)

There was not a lot of description of the methodology used in this study. So, I don’t know how

and why the team has compared the studied group to the rest of the county, since it is hard to find

a control group (people not exposed to RF). (15)

Feasibility of epidemiological studies of phone base stations.

The increase of people using phones on daily basis raised some concerns about the RF radiation

emitted by these devices, which has also increased the demand for epidemiological studies to

better understand the potential health risks posed by RF radiation. This includes RF transmission

base stations. (16)

This part of the paper looks into the validity of the methodologies used in most of the studies

done regarding base station radiation and terminal diseases such as cancer.

The writer of the article points to the fact that base station RF radiation exposure is almost

negligible compared to all RF sources that people get exposed to on daily basis. For example, 30

minutes of mobile phone use is equivalent to 1 day of exposure to base station. So, exposure to

base station RF radiation could be relevant when considering the total exposure time above a low

threshold. (16)

The writer of the paper does not think that studies focusing solely on base station exposure are

fruitful for several reasons except for certain circumstances in which bases station radiation and

all RF sources are studied. (16)

Two of the main parameters used in most of the studies of the health risks of phone base station

is distance from the homes and the station and power density emitted by the antenna. However,

the radiation that people get exposed to from base station at any location changes as a function

of many factors like, direction of transmission, output power, attenuation due to obstacles.

The main difficulty of studying the relationship between phone base station radiation and chronic

diseases like cancer is the long term exposure which can extend to many years because of the

21

latency of the possible effects. The studies done in this area need to have sufficient statistical

differences between the the groups to draw solid conclusions. (16)

Another common problem in such studies is the strong dependence on self-reporting from

participants in the studies. such reporting is hugely subjective and is not accurate especially if the

the participants were aware of the possibility that phone base stations could be carcinogen.

Moreover, the well being of human is hard to measure especially in an extended period of time.

There are several types of studies that can be used to investigate the effects of RF on human that

occur in short period of time (weeks or months) such as, fields trials, cross-sectional studies and

prospective cohort. In these studies, it is important to choose random subjects from participants

and non-participants to avoid selection bias. (16)

General review of epidemiological studies of phone base

stations.

This part is a general review of the results of some of the main well-structured studies on

epidemiological effects of RF radiation.

Cell phones RF intensity is very small. It’s thermal effects on tissue is less than 0.1 C.

however, the continuous exposure of such radiation poses some concerns about its adverse

effects on the biology of human cells. (17)

The main reason for the focus of RF and cancer is the public concern. However, many

affects should be investigated more closely such neurinoma of the cranial nerve, and malignancy

of salivary gland. (17)

The research team has searched the literature and tried to come with a conclusion based

on those studies. A problem that was common in a lot of the studies is selection bias. The writer

gives the example of selecting specific employees (that have certain socioeconomic status) based

on their exposure of RF (such as a study done on Motorola company workers who work on

wireless communication). (17)

In large study that was conducted on 195775 Motorola workers with various degrees of

RF exposure, the employees accumulated 2.7 million person-years of exposure. The workers

experienced RF exposure from hand-held phones that were sold to the public. The researchers of

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that study found no indication of increase of brain cancer or lymphatic cancer compared to a

similar control group. (17)

In Sweden, a group of researchers conducted a follow up study on the survived

participants who were diagnosed with cancer. The team found no association between cancer

and the use of cell phones. However, they found that cell phone users who did develop cancer

are 2.4 times more likely to develop it on the side where they reported they use the phone. (17)

In the case of cell phone base station, the amount of RF radiation can be measured. However, the

individual exposure of people near the base station is hard to be determined since the beam is

directed at the horizon and the buildings and obstacles make the RF reflect and scatter.

Finally, the writer talks about the motor vehicle accidents and mobile phone use to give the

reader a better prospective, where he says that people are 4 times more likely to make an

accident when they use mobile phones. A researcher found that heavy phone users get involved

in double the number of accidents of moderate phone uses. (17)

Another group of researchers has searched PubMed and found 10 epidemiological studies

that investigated putative health effects from phone base stations. The researcher found that 8 out

of 10 studies have reported an increased risk of neurobehavioral symptoms or cancer for people

living within 500m from the base station. (18)

Phone base stations antennas output low power RF. However, the continuous output of

power may have adverse effects on human health. (18)

The researcher has searched a medical engine website (PubMed) for studies. 10 studies

were found that have studied human population examining the health effects of phone base

stations. 7 out of 10 studies investigated the proximity of phone base stations and

neurobehavioral symptoms utilizing a questionnaire. While the other 3 studies looked into the

proximity of the base station and medical records of cancer.

The researchers found a possible increase in the adverse health effects and cancer cases.

8 studies found an increase of the possibility of developing neurobehavioral problems for people

who live within 500 meters of the base station. (18)

One study found (by Abdulrassoul) a lower cognitive ability in the people living less than

10 meters from the base station. Another study (by Wolf) found an increase in cancer cases in the

people living less than 400 meters. A study done by Navarro and Santini reported an increase of

people having headache living near the base station. A study done by Meyer in Bavaria reported

23

no increase in cancer cases. Most of the studies consider the proximity of the base station to be

the main parameter in this kind of epidemiological studies. The number of antennas and their

orientations, absorption rate and reflection coefficients and obstacles such as buildings play a

huge role in determining the amount of radiation people get exposed to. The main problem

facing researchers in regard to studying the epidemiological effects of phone base station is the

latency, which introduces a lot of factors and risks. (18)

Conclusion

There is strong evidence that GSM waves and generally microwaves have adverse effects that

could permanently change some key properties of the brain, such as damaging nerve cells as

proven by study (2). Glucose metabolism is also affected as seen in study (3), however, study (3)

did not find any behavioral effects of GSM waves and the researchers argue that the human brain

is a complex biological system, so it is hard attribute any functional changes to the glucose

metabolism change in the brain. Blood brain barrier is proven to have persistent changes due to

exposure to GSM radiation as proven by study (4). I would wish that more research is done to

investigate this change and its effects. Because that change in the BBB of the brain could have

devastating effects on the brain, especially if it is permanent. Study (5) have found psychological

effects of potential depression on rats but did not find any significant cognitive differences

between the exposed rats and control rats. I like this study (5) and its methodology; however, I

think that the researchers should have more exposed and control rats with different ranges of

exposure. I also, think it would be even more interesting if the researchers extend the exposure

period to a couple of months to better simulate the rat exposure to the human exposure of GSM

waves.

24

For study (6), I do not completely agree with the main conclusion of the researchers, since there

are many factors that could alter the behavior of a child. However, I like how the study was

conducted and the fact that it was a done on a long period of time to try to understand the long

term effects. I also, like that the study covers a large number of subjects. However, it does not

provide any possible explanation but only shows a correlation between phone use and change in

child behavior.

Both study (5) and (7) found no significant difference in cognitive abilities between exposed

groups and control groups. Those studies had both rats and humans as subjects. However, it

would be interesting if both studies had more exposed subjects and were done on an extended

period of time like study (6) to be able draw stronger conclusions.

Study (9) proves what is already in the bioelectromagnetic literature about the effects of

microwave on the dielectric properties of biological tissues. These effects are subject to further

study on the human psychological and physiological health and more research need to be done to

investigate these effects on both the long term and the short term. I think that phones do pose

potential health risk on the brain based on these studies. More research is needed to better

understand the long-term effects of these risks especially on the blood brain barrier. So, I think

that the concerns that were raised by the California Department of public health are legitimate

and people should try to lower their exposure levels to phone radiation.

Appendix

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damage in mammalian brain after exposure to microwaves from GSM mobile phones. Environmental

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