Spending the night next to a router - Results from the first human experimental study investigating the impact of Wi-Fi exposure on sleep

2020 · Mixed · Moderate evidence

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MixedModerate evidencePaper 1525

No statistically significant acute effects of whole-night 2.45 GHz Wi-Fi exposure on subjective sleep parameters or sleep macrostructure were observed. Sleep microstructure analyses showed reduced global EEG power in the alpha band (8.00–11.75 Hz) during NREM…

Study snapshot

Publicationmanual · 2020

Study typerandomized_trial

Reported directionMixed

Evidence ratingModerate

Abstract

Spending the night next to a router - Results from the first human experimental study investigating the impact of Wi-Fi exposure on sleep Danker-Hopfe H, Bueno-Lopez A, Dorn H, Schmid G, Hirtl R, Eggert T. Spending the night next to a router - Results from the first human experimental study investigating the impact of Wi-Fi exposure on sleep. Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2020 May 11;228:113550. doi: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2020.113550. Abstract BACKGROUND: The use of wireless telecommunication systems such as wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi)-enabled devices has steadily increased in recent years. There are persistent concerns that radiofrequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) exposure might affect health. Possible effects of RF-EMF exposure on human sleep were examined with regard to mobile phones and base stations, but not with regard to Wi-Fi exposure. OBJECTIVES: The present double-blind, sham-controlled, randomized, fully counterbalanced cross-over study addressed for the first time the question whether a whole night Wi-Fi exposure has an effect on sleep. METHODS: Thirty-four healthy young male subjects (mean ± SD: 24.1 ± 2.9 years) spent five nights in the sleep laboratory. A screening and adaptation night was followed by two experimental nights. Each of the experimental nights was preceded by a baseline night. Sleep was evaluated at the subjective level by a questionnaire and at the objective level (macro- and microstructure) by polysomnography. Either 2.45 GHz Wi-Fi (max psSAR10g of 6.4 mW/kg) or sham signals were delivered by a newly developed head exposure facility. RESULTS: Results showed no statistically significant acute effects of a whole-night Wi-Fi exposure on subjective sleep parameters as well as on parameters characterizing the macrostructure of sleep. Analyses of the microstructure of sleep revealed a reduction in global EEG power in the alpha frequency band (8.00-11.75 Hz) during NREM sleep under acute Wi-Fi exposure compared to sham. DISCUSSION: The results of the present human experimental study are well in line with several other neurophysiological studies showing that acute RF-EMF exposure has no effect on the macrostructure of sleep. The slight physiological changes in EEG power observed under Wi-Fi exposure are neither reflected in the subjective assessment of sleep nor at the level of objective measurements. The present results are not indicative of a sleep disturbing effect of Wi-Fi exposure. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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AI evidence extraction

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Study typerandomized_trial

Effect directionmixed

PopulationHealthy young male subjects

Sample size34

ExposureRF · 2450 MHz · 0.0064 W/kg · whole night (experimental night)

Evidence strengthModerateConfidence: 78% · Peer reviewed: yes

Main findings

Outcomes measured

Subjective sleep parameters (questionnaire)
Sleep macrostructure (polysomnography)
Sleep microstructure (EEG power; alpha band during NREM)

Limitations

Only healthy young male subjects were studied
Acute/short-term exposure (whole-night) only
Laboratory sleep setting may limit generalizability

View raw extracted JSON

{
  "study_type": "randomized_trial",
  "exposure": {
    "band": "RF",
    "source": "wi-fi",
    "frequency_mhz": 2450,
    "sar_wkg": 0.0064,
    "duration": "whole night (experimental night)"
  },
  "population": "Healthy young male subjects",
  "sample_size": 34,
  "outcomes": [
    "Subjective sleep parameters (questionnaire)",
    "Sleep macrostructure (polysomnography)",
    "Sleep microstructure (EEG power; alpha band during NREM)"
  ],
  "main_findings": "No statistically significant acute effects of whole-night 2.45 GHz Wi-Fi exposure on subjective sleep parameters or sleep macrostructure were observed. Sleep microstructure analyses showed reduced global EEG power in the alpha band (8.00–11.75 Hz) during NREM sleep under Wi-Fi exposure compared with sham.",
  "effect_direction": "mixed",
  "limitations": [
    "Only healthy young male subjects were studied",
    "Acute/short-term exposure (whole-night) only",
    "Laboratory sleep setting may limit generalizability"
  ],
  "evidence_strength": "moderate",
  "confidence": 0.78,
  "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
  "keywords": [
    "Wi-Fi",
    "RF-EMF",
    "sleep",
    "polysomnography",
    "EEG",
    "alpha band",
    "NREM",
    "double-blind",
    "sham-controlled",
    "randomized",
    "cross-over"
  ],
  "suggested_hubs": [
    {
      "slug": "school-wi-fi",
      "weight": 0.9,
      "reason": "Experimental study of Wi-Fi (2.45 GHz) exposure and sleep outcomes."
    }
  ]
}

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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: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2020.113550
PubMed: Not supplied

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