Study type: Medical/biological study (experimental study)

Evaluation of Cytotoxic and Genotoxic Effects in Human Peripheral Blood Leukocytes Following Exposure to 1950-MHz Modulated Signal med./bio.

Published in: IEEE Trans Plasma Sci 2006; 34 (4): 1441-1448

Aim of study (acc. to author)

This in vitro study was conducted to investigate possible effects of 1950 MHz continous exposure on human peripherial blood leukocytes.

Background/further details

Peripheral blood samples were taken from six healthy non-smoking males aged beween 27 and 32 years. 2 x 250 randomly selected cells per treatment group were examined. Hydrogen peroxide treated cells were the positive controls.
The specific absorption rates tested were selected to evaluate conditions below (0.5 W/kg) or equal to (2 W/kg) the currently accepted safety limits by the ICNIRP.

Endpoint

Exposure

Exposure Parameters
Exposure 1: 1,950 MHz
Exposure duration: continuous for 24 h
  • SAR: 0.5 W/kg average over mass
  • SAR: 2 W/kg average over mass

General information

For each donor, five conditions were tested in duplicate: RF and sham exposure at two SAR values and positive controls (cultures treated for 30 min with 50-µM hydrogen peroxide). The design of the exposure setup followed the basic requirements suggested in [Kuster et al., 2000].

Exposure 1

Main characteristics
Frequency 1,950 MHz
Type
Charakteristic
  • guided field
Exposure duration continuous for 24 h
Modulation
Modulation type cf. additional info
Additional info

UMTS signal according to the WCDMA/3GPP standard (five power-controlled user data channels + one control channel)

Exposure setup
Exposure source
Setup Four 35-mm Petri dishes filled with 3-ml samples were stacked in a plastic dish holder positioned inside the waveguide
Sham exposure A sham exposure was conducted.
Additional info induced electric field parallel to the sample surface, spatial distribution was quite uniform along the vertical axis; thus, a high uniformity was achieved between the different layers, including the cell layer at the bottom of the Petri dish. As already done in a previous work [Zeni et al., 2005], resonant operation was discarded in order to avoid limitations in the modulation bandwidth of the feeding signal.
Parameters
Measurand Value Type Method Mass Remarks
SAR 0.5 W/kg average over mass measured and calculated - -
SAR 2 W/kg average over mass measured and calculated - -

Reference articles

  • Calabrese M et al. (2006): A high-efficiency waveguide applicator for in vitro exposure of mammalian cells at 1.95 GHz
  • Zeni O et al. (2005): Evaluation of genotoxic effects in human peripheral blood leukocytes following an acute in vitro exposure to 900 MHz radiofrequency fields
  • Kuster N et al. (2000): Recommended minimal requirements and development guidelines for exposure setups of bio-experiments addressing the health risk concern of wireless communications
  • Allis JW et al. (1977): Measurement of microwave radiation absorbed by biological systems, 1. Analysis of heating and cooling data

Exposed system:

Methods Endpoint/measurement parameters/methodology

Investigated system:
Time of investigation:
  • after exposure

Main outcome of study (acc. to author)

No statistically significant differences were found in continuously exposed and sham exposed human leukocytes concerning cell viability and genotoxicity.

Study character:

Study funded by

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