Evaluation of the Effect of Radiofrequency Radiation Emitted From Wi-Fi Router and Mobile Phone Simulator on the Antibacterial Susceptibility of Pathogenic Bacteria Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli

Abstract

Mobile phones and Wi-Fi radiofrequency radiation are among the main sources of the exposure of the general population to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF). Previous studies have shown that exposure of microorganisms to RF-EMFs can be associated with a wide spectrum of changes ranged from the modified bacterial growth to the alterations of the pattern of antibiotic resistance. Our laboratory at the nonionizing department of the Ionizing and Non-ionizing Radiation Protection Research Center has performed experiments on the health effects of exposure to animal models and humans to different sources of electromagnetic fields such as cellular phones, mobile base stations, mobile phone jammers, laptop computers, radars, dentistry cavitrons, magnetic resonance imaging, and Helmholtz coils. On the other hand, we have previously studied different aspects of the challenging issue of the ionizing or nonionizing radiation-induced alterations in the susceptibility of microorganisms to antibiotics. In this study, we assessed if the exposure to 900 MHz GSM mobile phone radiation and 2.4 GHz radiofrequency radiation emitted from common Wi-Fi routers alters the susceptibility of microorganisms to different antibiotics. The pure cultures of Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli were exposed to RF-EMFs generated either by a GSM 900 MHz mobile phone simulator and a common 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi router. It is also shown that exposure to RF-EMFs within a narrow level of irradiation (an exposure window) makes microorganisms resistant to antibiotics. This adaptive phenomenon and its potential threats to human health should be further investigated in future experiments. Altogether, the findings of this study showed that exposure to Wi-Fi and RF simulator radiation can significantly alter the inhibition zone diameters and growth rate for L monocytogenes and E coli. These findings may have implications for the management of serious infectious diseases.

Evaluation of Short-Term Exposure to 2.4 GHz Radiofrequency Radiation Emitted from Wi-Fi Routers on the Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus

“…It has been reported that electromagnetic field (EMFs) can either negatively [3][4][5][6] or positively [5,7,8] affect cell growth and viability, as well as bacterial sensitivity to antibiotics, depending on its physical parameters, such as frequency, exposure time, intensity and magnetic flux density and bacterial strain. The non-thermal effects of Wi-Fi exposure on different strains of bacteria have been studied [5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. Overall, the effects of EMFs on the biological systems have been investigated in several studies [1,9].…”

Comment on ‘Cell phone use and ill health: is there a definite relationship?’

“…Over the past decade, we have studied the health effects of exposure to different sources of electromagnetic fields such as cellular phones, [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] mobile base stations 13,14 and Wi-Fi routers. 3,6,[15][16][17][18][19] Regarding cancer, we have recently addressed the limitations and shortcomings of some of the studies claiming lack of association between exposure to radiofrequency radiation and cancer. 2,[20][21][22] Interestingly, in one of the papers reviewed by our research group, a 400% difference in brain tumours was ignored due to poor statistical analysis.…”

Os potenciais efeitos da radiação não-ionizante no crescimento de microrganismos

“…Além das diferenças morfológicas, outras diferenças sugerem um risco maior quando crianças são expostas a radiação, entre elas estão a maior porcentagem de água, uma maior taxa de metabolismo, diferenças na espessura do crânio, sistema imunológico imaturo e diferenças dielétricas como permeabilidade e condutividade(FERNANDÉZ et al, 2015).Se relacionarmos isso ao nível microscópico, as bactérias estão diretamente em contato com as maiores taxas permitidas para organismos complexos como o nosso, e as bactérias são organismos mais simples e mais susceptíveis. No entanto um estudo investigou o crescimento de E. coli sobre diferentes frequências de radiação, e em níveis baixos de radiação, de 0,5 GHz e 3.8 GHz, a radiação chegou a potencializar o crescimento de colônias(BISWAS et al, 2017), outro estudo utilizando de uma variedade maior de bactérias, investigou as radiações emitidas por Wi-Fi e GMS e concluiu que as bactérias reagem de formas diferentes as radiações, sendo que algumas diminuem o crescimento em algumas horas de exposição e outras aumentam, no entanto todas voltam a crescer depois de algum tempo, o que nos chama atenção para os fatores de adaptação que as bactérias possuem(TAHERI et al, 2017).…”