Effects of Electromagnetic Waves with LTE and 5G Bandwidth on the Skin Pigmentation In Vitro

2020 · No effect · Low evidence

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No effectLow evidencePaper 1236

Study snapshot

Publicationmanual · 2020

Study typein_vitro

Reported directionNo effect

Evidence ratingLow

Abstract

Effects of Electromagnetic Waves with LTE and 5G Bandwidth on the Skin Pigmentation In Vitro Kyuri Kim, Young Seung Lee, Nam Kim, Hyung-Do Choi, Dong-Jun Kang, Hak Rim Kim, Kyung-Min Lim. Effects of Electromagnetic Waves with LTE and 5G Bandwidth on the Skin Pigmentation In Vitro. Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Dec 26;22(1):E170. doi: 10.3390/ijms22010170. Abstract With the rapid growth of wireless communication devices, the influences of electromagnetic fields (EMF) on human health are gathering increasing attention. Since the skin is the largest organ of the body and is located at the outermost layer, it is considered a major target for the health effects of EMF. Skin pigmentation represents one of the most frequent symptoms caused by various non-ionizing radiations, including ultraviolet radiation, blue light, infrared, and extremely low frequency (ELF). Here, we investigated the effects of EMFs with long-term evolution (LTE, 1.762 GHz) and 5G (28 GHz) bandwidth on skin pigmentation in vitro. Murine and Human melanoma cells (B16F10 and MNT-1) were exposed to either LTE or 5G for 4 h per day, which is considered the upper bound of average smartphone use time. It was shown that neither LTE nor 5G exposure induced significant effects on cell viability or pigmentation. The dendrites of MNT-1 were neither lengthened nor regressed after EMF exposure. Skin pigmentation effects of EMFs were further examined in the human keratinocyte cell line (MNT-1-HaCaT) co-culture system, which confirmed the absence of significant hyper- pigmentation effects of LTE and 5G EMFs. Lastly, MelanoDerm™, a 3D pigmented human epidermis model, was irradiated with LTE (1.762 GHz) or 5G (28 GHz), and image analysis and special staining were performed. No changes in the brightness of MelanoDerm™ tissues were observed in LTE- or 5G-exposed tissues, except for only minimal changes in the size of melanocytes. Collectively, these results imply that exposure to LTE and 5G EMFs may not affect melanin synthesis or skin pigmentation under normal smartphone use condition. Open access paper: mdpi.com

Machine Enhanced Logic

AI evidence extraction

Structured fields below were generated from the paper’s abstract and metadata to make the evidence easier to inspect. Automated extraction may be incomplete or incorrect; verify important details against the original paper.

Study typein_vitro

Effect directionno_effect

PopulationNot supplied

Sample sizeNot supplied

ExposureRF · 4 h per day

Evidence strengthLowConfidence: 78% · Peer reviewed: yes

Main findings

Murine (B16F10) and human (MNT-1) melanoma cells exposed to LTE (1.762 GHz) or 5G (28 GHz) for 4 h/day showed no significant effects on cell viability or pigmentation, and MNT-1 dendrites were not lengthened or regressed. A keratinocyte co-culture system (MNT-1-HaCaT) also showed no significant hyper-pigmentation effects. In a 3D pigmented human epidermis model (MelanoDerm™), no changes in tissue brightness were observed after LTE or 5G exposure, except minimal changes in melanocyte size.

Outcomes measured

cell viability
skin pigmentation/melanin synthesis
dendrite morphology (MNT-1)
brightness of 3D pigmented human epidermis model (MelanoDerm™)
melanocyte size (MelanoDerm™)

Limitations

In vitro models (cell lines and 3D epidermis model) may not generalize to in vivo human exposure
Exposure metric details such as SAR/power density are not provided in the abstract
Sample sizes and statistical details are not reported in the abstract

View raw extracted JSON

{
  "study_type": "in_vitro",
  "exposure": {
    "band": "RF",
    "source": "mobile phone",
    "frequency_mhz": null,
    "sar_wkg": null,
    "duration": "4 h per day"
  },
  "population": null,
  "sample_size": null,
  "outcomes": [
    "cell viability",
    "skin pigmentation/melanin synthesis",
    "dendrite morphology (MNT-1)",
    "brightness of 3D pigmented human epidermis model (MelanoDerm™)",
    "melanocyte size (MelanoDerm™)"
  ],
  "main_findings": "Murine (B16F10) and human (MNT-1) melanoma cells exposed to LTE (1.762 GHz) or 5G (28 GHz) for 4 h/day showed no significant effects on cell viability or pigmentation, and MNT-1 dendrites were not lengthened or regressed. A keratinocyte co-culture system (MNT-1-HaCaT) also showed no significant hyper-pigmentation effects. In a 3D pigmented human epidermis model (MelanoDerm™), no changes in tissue brightness were observed after LTE or 5G exposure, except minimal changes in melanocyte size.",
  "effect_direction": "no_effect",
  "limitations": [
    "In vitro models (cell lines and 3D epidermis model) may not generalize to in vivo human exposure",
    "Exposure metric details such as SAR/power density are not provided in the abstract",
    "Sample sizes and statistical details are not reported in the abstract"
  ],
  "evidence_strength": "low",
  "confidence": 0.78,
  "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
  "keywords": [
    "LTE",
    "5G",
    "28 GHz",
    "1.762 GHz",
    "RF-EMF",
    "skin pigmentation",
    "melanin",
    "melanoma cells",
    "B16F10",
    "MNT-1",
    "HaCaT",
    "co-culture",
    "MelanoDerm",
    "in vitro"
  ],
  "suggested_hubs": [
    {
      "slug": "5g-policy",
      "weight": 0.55,
      "reason": "Study evaluates biological effects of 5G-band (28 GHz) exposure."
    }
  ]
}

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AI-extracted fields are generated from the abstract and metadata and may be incomplete or incorrect. This material is for informational purposes and is not medical advice.

Identifiers and source

DOI: 10.3390/ijms22010170
PubMed: Not supplied

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