Effects of short‐term W‐CDMA mobile phone base station exposure on women with or without mobile phone related symptoms

Abstract

To investigate possible health effects of mobile phone use, we conducted a double-blind, cross-over provocation study to confirm whether subjects with mobile phone related symptoms (MPRS) are more susceptible than control subjects to the effect of electromagnetic fields (EMF) emitted from base stations. We sent questionnaires to 5,000 women and obtained 2,472 valid responses from possible candidates; from these, we recruited 11 subjects with MPRS and 43 controls. There were four EMF exposure conditions, each of which lasted 30 min: continuous, intermittent, and sham exposure with and without noise. Subjects were exposed to EMF of 2.14 GHz, 10 V/m (W-CDMA), in a shielded room to simulate whole-body exposure to EMF from base stations, although the exposure strength we used was higher than that commonly received from base stations. We measured several psychological and cognitive parameters pre- and post-exposure, and monitored autonomic functions. Subjects were asked to report on their perception of EMF and level of discomfort during the experiment. The MPRS group did not differ from the controls in their ability to detect exposure to EMF; nevertheless they consistently experienced more discomfort, regardless of whether or not they were actually exposed to EMF, and despite the lack of significant changes in their autonomic functions. Thus, the two groups did not differ in their responses to real or sham EMF exposure according to any psychological, cognitive or autonomic assessment. In conclusion, we found no evidence of any causal link between hypersensitivity symptoms and exposure to EMF from base stations.

Systematic review on the health effects of exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields from mobile phone base stations

“…None of these trials [17][18][19][20] revealed a correct field detection rate better than expected by chance ( Fig. 2) and there was no evidence that individuals who were hypersensitive to electromagnetic fields were more likely to determine correctly the presence or absence of exposure than individuals who were not hypersensitive (P = 0.66).…”

“…The details of these studies are summarized in Table 1 (available at: http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/88/12/09-071852). Three trials used a UMTS antenna to create controlled exposure circumstances 17,19,20 and one study evaluated all three mobile phone frequency bands. 18 In total, 282 healthy adults, 40 healthy adolescents and 88 individuals with hypersensitivity Research to electromagnetic fields were included in these four studies.…”

“…None of the other studies found any association between MPBS exposure and fatigue or self-reported sleep disturbances (Table 4). 20,24,[29][30][31]35,39 Many other non-specific symptoms have been evaluated, such as concentration difficulties or dizziness. Generally, no association with exposure was observed ( Table 1 and Table 2).…”

“…Exposure effects on cognitive functions were investigated in three trials 17,19,20 and two epidemiological studies. 24,27 All three trials investigated the effect of UMTS base station exposure but found no effect in a variety of cognitive tests.…”

Development and evaluation of an electromagnetic hypersensitivity questionnaire for Japanese people

“…In Japan, Furubayashi et al [2009] reported that 1.2% of females showed mobile phone‐related and other unusual symptoms around telecommunication masts; however, further reports concerning EHS among the Japanese population are lacking. As well, the number of people with an EHS condition varies between countries.…”