Effects of Mobile Phone Radiation on X-Ray-Induced Tumorigenesis in Mice

Abstract

The increased use of mobile phones has raised the question of possible health effects of such devices, particularly the risk of cancer. It seems unlikely that the low-level radiofrequency (RF) radiation emitted by them would damage DNA directly, but its ability to act as a tumor promoter is less well characterized. In the current study, we evaluated the effect of low-level RF radiation on the development of cancer initiated in mice by ionizing radiation. Two hundred female CBA/S mice were randomized into four equal groups at the age of 3 to 5 weeks. The mice in all groups except the cage-control group were exposed to ionizing radiation at the beginning of the study and then to RF radiation for 1.5 h per day, 5 days a week for 78 weeks. One group was exposed to continuous NMT (Nordic Mobile Telephones)-type frequency-modulated RF radiation at a frequency of 902.5 MHz and a nominal average specific absorption rate (SAR) of 1.5 W/kg. Another group was exposed to pulsed GSM (Global System for Mobile)-type RF radiation (carrier-wave frequency 902.4 MHz, pulse frequency 217 Hz) at a nominal average SAR of 0.35 W/kg. The control animals were sham-exposed. Body weight, clinical signs, and food and water consumption were recorded regularly. Hematological examinations and histopathological analyses of all lesions and major tissues were performed on all animals. The RF-radiation exposures did not increase the incidence of any neoplastic lesion significantly. We conclude that the results do not provide evidence for cancer promotion by RF radiation emitted by mobile phones.

Survival and cancer in laboratory mammals exposed to radiofrequency energy

“…Results reviewed here also show that long term, low level exposure ( 4 W/kg) to RF energy did not affect survival adversely [Chou et al, 1992;Liddle et al, 1994;Toler et al, 1997;Frei et al, 1998a,b;Adey et al, 1999Adey et al, , 2000Heikkinen et al, 2001;Zook and Simmens, …”

“…), the authors concluded that (1) RF exposure did not increase the incidence of any neoplastic lesion and (2) the results did not provide evidence for cancer promotion by RF energy emitted by mobile phones. In addition, RF exposure did not affect water and food consumption, body weight, organ weights, or hematological measures, except for hemoglobin concentration that the authors regarded as a chance effect because no other hematological parameters of erythrocytes were changed [Heikkinen et al, 2001]. Utteridge et al [2002] found no significant difference in the incidence of lymphomas between sham exposed groups of mice and groups exposed at 0.25, 1, 2, and 4 W/kg for 1 h/day, 5 days/week up to 2 years.…”

“…RF exposure had no effect on auto-antibody levels and tumor development including no acceleration or delays in tumor onset. Heikkinen et al [2001] first exposed mice to ionizing radiation that is known to initiate tumors, particularly leukemia/lymphomas. The mice were then exposed to nonionizing RF fields characteristic of mobile phone emissions for 78 weeks (1.5 h/day, 5 days/week) at 1.5 W/kg (902.5 MHz) or at 0.35 W/kg (902.4 MHz).…”

“…In an experiment, similar to the lung cancer colony assay by Szmigielski et al [1982] in which sarcoma cells were injected into mice, Santini et al [1988] injected melanoma cells into mice and found no effect of either CW or PW fields (2450 MHz) at 1.2 W/kg on cancer development. Szmigielski et al [1982] also reported that RF exposure affected the development of skin cancer caused by the application of benzopyrene, but more recent studies found that RF exposure did not increase tumor incidence in animals treated with cancer causing agents such as ENU [Adey et al, 1999[Adey et al, , 2000Zook and Simmens, 2001], ionizing radiation [Heikkinen et al, 2001], and benzopyrene injected into the thigh [Chagnaud et al, 1999].…”

Bone morphogenetic protein expression in newborn rat kidneys after prenatal exposure to radiofrequency radiation

“…These include gene expression alteration of heat shock proteins, such as hsp70 [Di Carlo et al, 2002] and hsp27/p38MAPK [Leszczynski et al, 2002], early response genes like c-fos [Fritze et al, 1997;Goswami et al, 1999], as well as neurotransmitter production, concentration and localization [Mausset et al, 2001;Testylier et al, 2002]. Based on the above, RFR specific effects were suggested to induce or promote the development of cancer and other diseases [French et al, 2001;Leszczynski et al, 2002], a hypothesis not proven for any type of cancer [Heikkinen et al, 2001;Bartsch et al, 2002] and not proven for the proliferation of glioma cells [Stagg et al, 1997;Higashikubo et al, 2001].…”