Short-term radiofrequency exposure from new generation mobile phones reduces EEG alpha power with no effects on cognitive performance.
Vecsei Z, Knakker B, Juhász P, Thuróczy G, Trunk A, Hernádi I. Short-term radiofrequency exposure from new generation mobile phones reduces EEG alpha power with no effects on cognitive performance. Sci Rep. 2018 Dec 20;8(1):18010. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-36353-9.
Abstract
Although mobile phone (MP) use has been steadily increasing in the last decades and similar positive trends are expected for the near future, systematic investigations on neurophysiological and cognitive effects caused by recently developed technological standards for MPs are scarcely available. Here, we investigated the effects of radiofrequency (RF) fields emitted by new-generation mobile technologies, specifically, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) and Long-Term Evolution (LTE), on intrinsic scalp EEG activity in the alpha band (8-12 Hz) and cognitive performance in the Stroop test. The study involved 60 healthy, young-adult university students (34 for UMTS and 26 for LTE) with double-blind administration of Real and Sham exposure in separate sessions. EEG was recorded before, during and after RF exposure, and Stroop performance was assessed before and after EEG recording. Both RF exposure types caused a notable decrease in the alpha power over the whole scalp that persisted even after the cessation of the exposure, whereas no effects were found on any aspects of performance in the Stroop test. The results imply that the brain networks underlying global alpha oscillations might require minor reconfiguration to adapt to the local biophysical changes caused by focal RF exposure mimicking MP use.
Open access paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6301959/
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Vecsei Z, Thuróczy G, Hernádi I. The Effect of a Single 30-Min Long Term Evolution Mobile Phone-Like Exposure on Thermal Pain Threshold of Young Healthy Volunteers. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018 Aug 27;15(9). pii: E1849. doi: 10.3390/ijerph15091849.
Abstract
Although the majority of mobile phone (MP) users do not attribute adverse effects on health or well-being to MP-emitted radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic fields (EMFs), the exponential increase in the number of RF devices necessitates continuing research aimed at the objective investigation of such concerns. Here we investigated the effects of acute exposure from Long Term Evolution (LTE) MP EMFs on thermal pain threshold in healthy young adults. We use a protocol that was validated in a previous study in a capsaicin-induced hyperalgesia model and was also successfully used to show that exposure from an RF source mimicking a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) MP led to mildly stronger desensitization to repeated noxious thermal stimulation relative to the sham condition. Using the same experimental design, we did not find any effects of LTE exposure on thermal pain threshold. The present results, contrary to previous evidence obtained with the UMTS modulation, are likely to originate from placebo/nocebo effects and are unrelated to the brief acute LTE EMF exposure itself. The fact that this is dissimilar to our previous results on UMTS exposure implies that RF modulations might differentially affect pain perception and points to the necessity of further research on the topic.
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Wei Y, Yang J, Chen Z, Wu T, Lv B. Modulation of resting‐state brain functional connectivity by exposure to acute fourth‐generation long‐term evolution electromagnetic field: An fMRI study. Bioelectromagnetics. Published online 18 December 2018.
“To eliminate study biases, we employed a double‐blind, crossover, randomized, and counterbalanced design. Each participant underwent two experimental sessions including real exposure and sham exposure, which were separated by 1 day….The time‐division LTE signal (2.573 GHz) was produced by a signal generator a standard formulation for LTE signals….The power delivered to the standard dipole of 2.6 GHz was 24 dBm (mean value), which was equivalent to a theoretical maximal emission by an LTE terminal. The experiments were conducted in a shielding room to avoid the influence of environmental EMF. Each exposure session lasted for 30 min.”
“Numerical simulations that yielded spatial peak SAR averaging over 10 g tissues for the subjects was 0.98 ± 0.27 W/kg, with a maximal value of 1.52 W/kg, which was below the safety limits [ICNIRP, 1998].”
“In our previous studies, we found that LTE‐EMF exposure depressed the amplitude of spontaneous low frequency fluctuations (ALFFs) in some brain regions [Lv et al., 2014], such as those surrounding the left superior temporal gyrus and middle temporal gyrus (STG_L and MTG_L), right superior temporal gyrus (STG_R), right medial frontal gyrus, and right paracentral lobule (MFG_R and PCL_R). In the present study, we found new evidence that acute LTE‐EMF exposures lasting for 30 min modulated brain functional connectivity including not only localized intraregional connectivity, but also interregional connectivity.”
“Although the SAR values by LTE‐EMF exposure indicated no obvious temperature increase during the exposure experiments and the brain was excellent in terms of thermal regulation, we could not preclude that thermal changes, even minute changes, could be responsible for the instantaneous changes in neural firing. SAR is a metric averaging over 6 min, and its applicability for neurological studies should be discussed.”
May 2, 2016
By the end of 2013, 100 million cell phones in the U.S. operated on LTE. This number worldwide is expected to exceed 1 billion by the end of this year.
Following is a summary of the second study published on the effects of 4th generation LTE cell phone radiation on the brain activity of cell phone users by the China Academy of Telecommunication Research of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
The original study showed that 30 minutes of exposure to LTE phone radiation affected brain activity in the left superior temporal gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus, right superior temporal gyrus, right medial frontal gyrus and right paracentral lobule. The current study found that a 30-minute exposure to LTE radiation modulated
the EEG in the alpha and beta bands at the frontal region
of the near and remote sides, and at the temporal region on the
near side.
Yang L, Chen Q, Lv B, Wu T. Long-Term Evolution Electromagnetic Fields Exposure Modulates the Resting State EEG on Alpha and Beta Bands. Clin EEG Neurosci. 2017 May;48(3):168-175. doi: 10.1177/1550059416644887.
Abstract
Long-term evolution (LTE) wireless telecommunication systems are widely used globally, which has raised a concern that exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) emitted from LTE devices can change human neural function. To date, few studies have been conducted on the effect of exposure to LTE EMF. Here, we evaluated the changes in electroencephalogram (EEG) due to LTE EMF exposure. An LTE EMF exposure system with a stable power emission, which was equivalent to the maximum emission from an LTE mobile phone, was used to radiate the subjects. Numerical simulations were conducted to ensure that the specific absorption rate in the subject’s head was below the safety limits. Exposure to LTE EMF reduced the spectral power and the interhemispheric coherence in the alpha and beta bands of the frontal and temporal brain regions. No significant change was observed in the spectral power and the inter-hemispheric coherence in different timeslots during and after the exposure. These findings also corroborated those of our previous study using functional magnetic resonant imaging.
Excerpts
“.. the results of resting state EEG
experiments have been contradictory. For example, some studies
have reported enhancement of the alpha (8-12 Hz) and beta
(13-30 Hz) band power values after exposure to pulse-modulated
450- and 900-MHz signals, pulse-modulated magnetic
fields, and active mobile phone signals. In contrast, some
studies have shown decreased alpha band activity after 20 minutes
of extremely low-frequency EMF exposure, or 5 minutes
of magnetic field exposure, or global system for mobile
communications (GSM) EMF exposure. Many studies also
found no changes in the EEG after either modulated or unmodulated
EMF exposure. These inconsistencies could be
attributed not only to the differences in the signal type, the
modulation, the exposure frequency, the exposure intensity individual anatomy, the ages of the subjects, and the exposure
duration but also to the lack of rigorous experimental
designs.
Most of the previously published studies have focused on
GSM, WiFi, and Universal Mobile Telecommunications
System (UMTS), signals. An emerging technology, “long term
evolution” (LTE) wireless service, has been deployed
since 2009 and the number of global LTE subscribers is
expected to reach 1.37 billion by the end of 2015. Other than
our previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
study, there are very few reports on the effect of exposure to
LTE EMF on brain function.
We previously found that 30 minutes of exposure to LTE EMF
modulated the spontaneous low-frequency fluctuations. We
were interested in confirming our previous results using another neurophysiological method and also sought to assess the evolution
of the effect over time during such exposure. In this article, we
have investigated for the first time the changes in the resting state
EEG caused by exposure to LTE signals. The exposure dose was
below the current safety limit. In order to assess brain activities on
different levels, we evaluated spectral power and interhemispheric
coherence, which allowed investigation of EEG changes in specific
brain regions, as well as their correlations, at different time
points. We show that exposure to LTE EMF decreased the alpha
and beta band power spectrum and interhemisphere coherence.”
“The age of the subjects was 30.2 ± 2.7 years.”
“A plastic
spacer of 1 cm was used to maintain the distance between the
right ear and a standard dipole. We applied 2 power meters to ensure a constant
incident power to the emission dipole. The power delivered
to the dipole was 24 dBm (peak value), equivalent to a
theoretical maximum emission by an LTE terminal.”
“All 25 subjects participated in the double-blind and counterbalanced
experiment.”
“The experiment included 2 sessions, which were
separated by 1 week. Each session lasted 50 minutes and
comprised 5 time slots. We indicated each time slot (10 minutes)
in a session as sub1 to sub5. The radiation dipole was
power off for the first (preexposure, sub1) and the last 10
minutes (postexposure, sub5) timeslots. Subjects were
exposed to real EMF exposure in the 3 time slots (sub2 to
sub4) between the first and the last 10 minutes in only 1 of
the 2 sessions. The order of the 2 sessions was randomly
selected per subject. The subjects were not informed of the
sequence of each session; however, they were aware of the
possibility of being exposed. On the other hand, the staff
who analyzed the data did not know the sources of the EEG
traces.”
“The simulations yielded 1.34 W/kg (pSAR10g) and 1.96 W/kg
(pSAR1g), with the electrodes, and 1.27 W/kg (pSAR10g) and
1.78 W/kg (pSAR1g), without the electrodes (Figure 2) when
the dipole emitted radiation. Therefore, the presence of the
EEG electrodes increased pSAR10g and pSAR1g by about
5.5% and 10.1%, respectively. Accordingly, the maximum
resultant temperature increase was no more than 0.1°C ….”
“Previous studies on GSM and UMTS signal exposure
frequently reported changes in interhemispheric coherence and the spectral power in the alpha band in the
frontal and temporal regions, which were also confirmed by
our results on LTE EMF exposure. Moreover, modulation of
the power spectrum in the beta band, including both an increase
and a decrease, was reported. Several reasons may account
for the inconsistency. First, the signal frequency and its modulation
influenced the affected EEG band: for example, exposure
to 2G signals affect the alpha rhythms, whilst exposure to
3G signals do not. In contrast, the modulated 450-MHz signals of various intensities can change beta activity much
more markedly than alpha band power. Second, gender and
the individual sensitivity 38,40 may influence the effect on different
bands. Hence, we attempted to reduce the variability by
enrolling the subjects with the same gender and age.”
“In particular, power spectral analysis has shown significant
differences in the left frontal brain regions, that is, the remote
side, on exposure. This may be associated with modulation of
neural activity in the remote/contralateral brain regions. The
remote effects of EMF have been observed in many previous
studies. Our results reconfirmed that the effects were also
seen with LTE EMF exposure.”
“The power spectrum and the interhemispheric coherence did
not differ significantly over sub2 to sub5. Thus, the observed
effect did not change with the exposure time and the effect was
therefore not developing.
The reduction in alpha band activity has been associated
with a decrease in individual information-processing ability,
alertness, and cognitive performance. The decrease in
beta band activity could be interpreted as decreased alertness,
arousal, and excitement or a low level of fatigue. Notably,
EEG power fluctuation was not in one-one correspondence
with the change in behavioral/cognitive performance which
should be evaluated by specifically designed experiments as
the report by Haarala et al. No conclusion could be obtained
by our study that the present EMF exposure affected the subjects’
cognitive abilities.”
“This work studied EEG changes caused by LTE EMF exposure.
An exposure system with a fixed power incident to a radiation
dipole was used; this simulation demonstrated that the
SAR was within the safety limits. LTE EMF exposure modulated
the EEG in the alpha and beta bands at the frontal region
of the near and remote sides, and at the temporal region on the
near side. No developing effect was found in the periods during
and after the exposure. Our results agreed to some extent with
those of our previous fMRI study on LTE exposure. Our finding
indicated that the LTE EMF exposure with the intensity
beneath the safety limits could modulate the brain activities.”
“Future studies should focus on the correlation of EEG changes
with spatial SAR distribution. By taking individual anatomical
structure into consideration, a precise dose-effect relationship
can be established. EEG changes with a finer temporal resolution
during the exposure session should also be evaluated.”
—
Lv B, Chen Z, Wu T, et al. The alteration of spontaneous low frequency oscillations caused by acute electromagnetic fields exposure. Clin Neurophysiol. 2014;125:277-286.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The motivation of this study is to evaluate the possible alteration of regional resting state brain activity induced by the acute radiofrequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) exposure (30 minutes) of Long Term Evolution (LTE) signal.
METHODS: We designed a controllable near-field LTE RF-EMF exposure environment. Eighteen subjects participated in a double-blind, crossover, randomized and counterbalanced experiment including two sessions (real and sham exposure). The radiation source was close to the right ear. Then the resting state fMRI signals of human brain were collected before and after the exposure in both sessions. We measured the amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and fractional ALFF (fALFF) to characterize the spontaneous brain activity.
RESULTS: We found the decreased ALFF value around in left superior temporal gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus, right superior temporal gyrus, right medial frontal gyrus and right paracentral lobule after the real exposure. And the decreased fALFF value was also detected in right medial frontal gyrus and right paracentral lobule.
CONCLUSIONS: The study provided the evidences that 30 minute LTE RF-EMF exposure modulated the spontaneous low frequency fluctuations in some brain regions.
SIGNIFICANCE: With resting state fMRI, we found the alteration of spontaneous low frequency fluctuations induced by the acute LTE RF-EMF exposure.
http://1.usa.gov/1gTqxVr https://www.saferemr.com/2016/05/does-long-term-exposure-to-4g-lte-cell.html
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