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Correspondence

Short-Term Exposure to Mobile Phone Base Station Signals

Stelios A. Zinelis

Hellenic Cancer Society, Cefallonia, Greece, E-mail:zinelis@otenet.gr

Citation: Zinelis SA 2008. Short-Term Exposure to Mobile Phone Base Station Signals. Environ Health Perspect 116:A62-A62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.10733

Online: 1 February 2008

The author declares he has no competing financial interests.

The data in the study by Eltiti et al. (2007) do not support their conclusion that

In the study by Eltiti et al. (2007), the intensity of the radiation emitted by the mobile phone base station was 1 μW/cm2 (5 mW/m2 for 900 MHz and 5 mW/m2 for 1,800 MHz). The authors assumed that the participants would not react to higher intensities such as 10 or 20 μW/cm2, or even to intensities up to 900 μW/cm2, which are used in mobile phone technology.

The exposure durations were too short to produce real effects at the biochemical and clinical levels. Ahmed et al. (2004) and Lai et al. (1992, 1994) concluded that the response depends on the duration of the radiation exposure. After 1 hr of exposure, alterations of certain biochemicals, which could be producing the symptoms, may or may not occur. For example, an increase in acetylcholinesterase activity is responsible for the levels of acetylcholine and with other neurotransmitters responsible for cognitive functions; with further exposure, this activity increases in two areas of the brain, the hippocampus and the striatum. Also, Johansson (2006) reported that electromagnetic fields may stimulate mast cells, which produce histamine, and then symptoms are produced in the skin and other organs.

Furthermore, the effects of electromagnetic fields (Belyav 2005) may be related not only to intensity or duration of exposure but also to other parameters, such as frequency or modulation.

To classify a clinical symptom as psychological, first we must exclude biochemical changes that could be triggered by the electromagnetic fields and cause neurobehavioral responses. This is supported by studies that show changes in neurotransmitters [e.g., acetylcholine (Ahmed et al. 2004), γ-aminobutyric acid (Kolomytkin et al. 1994), glutamate (Wieraszko et al. 2004)], histamine (Johansson 2006), and somatostatin (Johansson 2006)] as well as their correlation with the clinical symptoms.

References Top

  1. Ahmed N, Asaad A, Aboul-Ezz H, Radwan NEffect of exposure to electromagnetic radiation from mobile phone on acetylcholinesterase activity in the hippocampus and striatum of young and adult male rats. In: Kostarakis P. , editor. Biological Effects of TMFs: Third International Workshop, Kos, Greece; 4–8 October 2004; Ioannina, Greece: University of Ioannina. 2004. pp. 924–930.
  2. Belyav I 2005. Microwave Review. Non-thermal biological effects of microwaves. pp. 13–29. Available:http://www.mwr.medianis.net/pdf/Vol11No2​-03-IBelyaev.pdf [accessed 3 January 2008]
  3. Eltiti S, Wallace D, Ridgewell A, Zougkou K, Russo R, Sepulveda F, et al. Does short-term exposure to mobile phone base station signals increase symptoms in individuals who report sensitivity to electromagnetic fields? A double-blind randomized provocation study Environ Health Perspect 115:1603–1608.18007992 Find this article online
  4. Johansson O. 2006. Electrohypersensitivity: state-of-the-art of a functional impairment Electromagn Biol Med 25:245–255.17178584 Find this article online
  5. Kolomytkin O, Kuznetsov V, Yurinska M, Zharikova A, Zharikov S 1994. Response of brain receptor systems to microwave energy exposure In: Frey A. , editor. On the Nature of Electromagnetic Field Interactions with Biological Systems. Austin, TX: R.G. Landes Co.. pp. 195–206.
  6. Lai H, Carino M, Horita A, Guy A. 1992. Opioid receptor subtypes that mediate a microwave induced decrease in central cholinergic activity in the rat Bioelectromagnetics 13:237–246.1317177 Find this article online
  7. Lai H, Horita A, Guy A. 1994. Microwave irradiation affects radial-arm maze performance in the rat Bioelectromagnetics 15:95–104.8024608 Find this article online
  8. Wieraszko A, Armani J, Hanna A, Maqsood N, Raja H, Hogan MChanges in neurotransmitter turnover and second messenger levels in brain tissue exposed to magnetic fields. In: Kostarakis P. , editor. Biological Effects of EMFs: Third International Workshop; Kos Greece. 4–8 October. Ioannina, Greece: University of Ioannina. 2004. 2004. pp. 614–32.
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