Effects of co-exposure to 900 MHz radiofrequency electromagnetic fields and high-level noise on sleep, weight, and food intake parameters in juvenile rats

2019 · Mixed · Low evidence

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MixedLow evidencePaper 1633

Study snapshot

Publicationmanual · 2019

Study typeanimal

Reported directionMixed

Evidence ratingLow

Abstract

Effects of co-exposure to 900 MHz radiofrequency electromagnetic fields and high-level noise on sleep, weight, and food intake parameters in juvenile rats Bosquillon de Jenlis A, Del Vecchio F, Delanaud S, Bach V, Pelletier A. Effects of co-exposure to 900 MHz radiofrequency electromagnetic fields and high-level noise on sleep, weight, and food intake parameters in juvenile rats. Environ Pollut. 2019 Oct 25:113461. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113461. Abstract OBJECTIVE: Electrohypersensitive people attribute various symptoms to exposure of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF); sleep disturbance is the most frequently cited. However, laboratory experiments have yielded conflicting results regarding sleep alterations. Our hypothesis was that exposure to RF-EMF alone would lead to slight or non-significant effects but that co-exposure to RF-EMFs and other environmental constraints (such as noise) would lead to significant effects. METHODS: 3-week-old male Wistar rats (4 groups, n = 12 per group) were exposed for 5 weeks to continuous RF-EMF (900 MHz, 1.8 V/m, SAR = 30 mW/kg) in the presence or absence of high-level noise (87.5 dB, 50- 20000 Hz) during the rest period. After 5 weeks of exposure, sleep (24 h recording), food and water intakes, and body weight were recorded with or without RF-EMF and/or noise. At the end of this recording period, sleep was scored during the 1 h resttime in the absence of noise and of RF-EMF exposure. RESULTS: Exposure to RF-EMF and/or noise was associated with body weight gain, with hyperphagia in the noise-only and RF-EMF + noise groups and hypophagia in the RF-EMF-only group. Sleep parameters recording over 24 h highlighted a higher frequency of active wakefulness in the RF-EMF-only group and a lower non-rapid eye movement/rapid eye movement sleep ratio during the active period in the noise-only group. There were no differences in sleep duration in either group. During the 1-h, constraint-free sleep recording, sleep rebound was observed in the noise-only group but not in the RF-EMF-only and RF-EMF + noise groups. CONCLUSION: Our study showed effects of RF-EMF, regardless of whether or not the animals were also exposed to noise. However, the RF-EMF + noise group presented no exacerbation of those effects. Our results did not support the hypothesis whereby the effects of RF-EMF on physiological functions studied are only visible in animals exposed to both noise and RF-EMF. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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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 typeanimal

Effect directionmixed

Population3-week-old male Wistar rats (juvenile)

Sample size48

ExposureRF · 900 MHz · 0.03 W/kg · continuous exposure for 5 weeks (during rest period)

Evidence strengthLowConfidence: 78% · Peer reviewed: yes

Main findings

In juvenile rats, RF-EMF and/or high-level noise exposure over 5 weeks was associated with body weight gain, with hyperphagia in the noise-only and RF-EMF+noise groups and hypophagia in the RF-EMF-only group. Over 24 h, RF-EMF-only exposure was associated with a higher frequency of active wakefulness, and noise-only exposure with a lower NREM/REM sleep ratio during the active period; sleep duration did not differ between groups. In a 1-hour constraint-free recording, sleep rebound was observed in the noise-only group but not in the RF-EMF-only or RF-EMF+noise groups; the combined exposure did not exacerbate effects versus single exposures.

Outcomes measured

sleep parameters (24 h recording; active wakefulness; NREM/REM ratio; sleep duration; sleep rebound)
body weight gain
food intake
water intake

Limitations

Animal study (juvenile male Wistar rats); generalizability to humans not addressed in abstract
Co-exposure design includes high-level noise; effects attributable specifically to RF-EMF vs noise may be complex
Exposure described as continuous during rest period; details of exposure setup beyond field strength and SAR not provided in abstract

View raw extracted JSON

{
  "study_type": "animal",
  "exposure": {
    "band": "RF",
    "source": null,
    "frequency_mhz": 900,
    "sar_wkg": 0.03,
    "duration": "continuous exposure for 5 weeks (during rest period)"
  },
  "population": "3-week-old male Wistar rats (juvenile)",
  "sample_size": 48,
  "outcomes": [
    "sleep parameters (24 h recording; active wakefulness; NREM/REM ratio; sleep duration; sleep rebound)",
    "body weight gain",
    "food intake",
    "water intake"
  ],
  "main_findings": "In juvenile rats, RF-EMF and/or high-level noise exposure over 5 weeks was associated with body weight gain, with hyperphagia in the noise-only and RF-EMF+noise groups and hypophagia in the RF-EMF-only group. Over 24 h, RF-EMF-only exposure was associated with a higher frequency of active wakefulness, and noise-only exposure with a lower NREM/REM sleep ratio during the active period; sleep duration did not differ between groups. In a 1-hour constraint-free recording, sleep rebound was observed in the noise-only group but not in the RF-EMF-only or RF-EMF+noise groups; the combined exposure did not exacerbate effects versus single exposures.",
  "effect_direction": "mixed",
  "limitations": [
    "Animal study (juvenile male Wistar rats); generalizability to humans not addressed in abstract",
    "Co-exposure design includes high-level noise; effects attributable specifically to RF-EMF vs noise may be complex",
    "Exposure described as continuous during rest period; details of exposure setup beyond field strength and SAR not provided in abstract"
  ],
  "evidence_strength": "low",
  "confidence": 0.78,
  "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
  "keywords": [
    "900 MHz",
    "RF-EMF",
    "radiofrequency",
    "noise",
    "sleep",
    "body weight",
    "food intake",
    "juvenile rats",
    "SAR",
    "co-exposure"
  ],
  "suggested_hubs": []
}

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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.envpol.2019.113461
PubMed: Not supplied

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