Chromosome damage in human cells induced by UMTS mobile telephony radiation

2019 · Harm · Low evidence

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HarmLow evidencePaper 1668

Peripheral blood lymphocytes from six donors exposed to UMTS (3G) mobile phone radiation during G2 phase showed highly significant increases in chromatid-type aberrations (gaps and breaks), reported as up to 275% compared with sham-exposed controls. The induc…

Study snapshot

Publicationmanual · 2019

Study typeother

Reported directionHarm

Evidence ratingLow

Abstract

Chromosome damage in human cells induced by UMTS mobile telephony radiation Panagopoulos DJ. Chromosome damage in human cells induced by UMTS mobile telephony radiation. Gen Physiol Biophys. 2019 Sep 13. doi: 10.4149/gpb_2019032. Abstract Environmental exposure to modern microwave telecommunication electromagnetic fields (EMFs) has increased to unprecedented levels with consequent health complaints and concerns. Many studies have already reported genotoxic effects on a variety of organisms and cell/tissue types. Human peripheral blood lymphocytes from six healthy donors were stimulated for mitosis and exposed to microwave EMF of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) or third generation (3G) mobile telephony (MT) EMF/radiation emitted by a commercially available mobile phone handset. Lymphocytes exposed during the G2 phase of the cell division cycle and observed at metaphase, exhibited chromatid-type aberrations (gaps and breaks) at highly significant percentages - up to 275% - compared to the control (sham-exposed) samples. Each subject exhibited a different sensitivity to the microwave exposure. Moreover, the percentages of aberrations in the control samples among subjects were different due to genetic and environmental factors. The MT EMF exposure induced mainly achromatic lesions (gaps), and secondarily terminal deletions (breaks) in a smaller degree. In conclusion, the present study shows that microwave 3G MT EMF/radiation - within the current exposure limits - has significant genotoxic action on human cells, and human exposure to this EMF/radiation should be kept at levels as low as possible. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov Excerpts Exposures were performed by a UMTS (3G) commercially available mobile phone handset in order to test the effects of real-life exposures experienced daily by billions of MT users around the world. UMTS employs the "Wideband Code Division Multiple Access" (W-CDMA) code to offer greater spectral efficiency and bandwidth to mobile network operators. All modern digital MT signals, combine both high (RF) and low (ELF) frequencies.... ... Representative average power density (from five representative instant measurements excluding background) in the RF band ± SD was 92 ± 27 μW/cm2. The carrier frequency was variable ~ 1920-1960 MHz during the exposures. Representative average ELF-E and ELF-B (from five representative instant measurements excluding background) ± SD at 100 Hz was 12 ± 4.2 V/m, and 0.9 ± 0.4 mG, respectively. Corresponding average ELF-E and ELF-B (from five instant measurements excluding background) ± SD at 1500 Hz was 8 ± 4.6 V/m, and 0.06 ± 0.02 mG, respectively. All measurements were carried out separately from the exposures in order to have the measuring devices at exactly the same position with the samples during the exposures. The above measured EMF/radiation intensity values are representative for UMTS mobile phone EMFs during "talk" mode, and are well within the current exposure limits (ICNIRP 1998, 2010).... The disruption of cell electrochemical balance by manmade (polarized) EMFs through irregular gating of voltage- gated ion channels on cell membranes is described by the "ion forced-oscillation mechanism" (Panagopoulos et al. 2000, 2002, 2015b). In turn, it is explained how the disruption of intracellular ionic concentrations may lead to DNA damage by intracellular release of free radicals or hydrolytic enzymes like DNases (Barzilai and Yamamoto 2004; Phillips et al. 2009; Panagopoulos 2011; Pall 2013). This is in line with the attribution of the DNA and chromosome damage to oxidative stress by El-Abd and Eltoweissy (2012). According to the ion forced- oscillation mechanism, the bioactivity of a polarized EMF is proportional to its intensity and inversely proportional to its frequency, meaning that the ELF pulsing and modulation of the MT EMFs seem to be responsible for their intense bioactivity and not the carrier (RF) frequency which is several orders of magnitude higher than ELF. This is supported by significant experimental evidence (Panagopoulos 2019). Thus, reports that MT EMF-bioactivity depends on carrier frequency (Markova et al. 2005) seem unlikely according to this mechanism and the corresponding experimental evidence. The present study - in line with previous studies of my group - indicates that people should necessarily reduce exposures to MT EMFs as much as possible by making prudent use of this technology and reduce drastically the number and duration of calls, make use of wired headsets (especially air-tube headsets) or the loudspeaker during calls and keep the device at the greatest possible distance from the body, not carry the mobile phones on their bodies while they are turned on, keep them at the greatest possible distance during the day, and switch them off during sleep. An avoidance strategy is the key for protection against the tremendously increased levels of man-made EMF exposures rather than metal shielding which is accused for internal desynchronization This is a severe medical syndrome in which the circadian rhythms of an individual (activity, temperature sleep/waking cycles, body secretions, etc.) start deviating from their normal 24 h-periodicity. Long-term persistence of this phenomenon is connected to a variety of health problems such as depression, sleep disorders, impulsivity, mania, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and increased cancer risk (Panagopoulos and Chrousos 2019). Finally, the responsible public health authorities should take into account the results of the present study as well as the results of hundreds of other peer-reviewed published studies (Panagopoulos 2019) and establish much stringer exposure limits than the existing ones.

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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 typeother

Effect directionharm

PopulationHuman peripheral blood lymphocytes from six healthy donors (in vitro; exposed during G2 phase and observed at metaphase)

Sample size6

ExposureRF

Evidence strengthLowConfidence: 74% · Peer reviewed: yes

Main findings

Outcomes measured

Chromatid-type chromosome aberrations (gaps and breaks)
Achromatic lesions (gaps)
Terminal deletions (breaks)

Limitations

Exposure duration not stated in provided abstract/excerpts
Specific statistical methods and absolute aberration rates not provided in provided abstract/excerpts
In vitro lymphocyte study; generalizability to in vivo human health outcomes not addressed in provided abstract/excerpts

View raw extracted JSON

{
  "study_type": "other",
  "exposure": {
    "band": "RF",
    "source": "mobile phone",
    "frequency_mhz": null,
    "sar_wkg": null,
    "duration": null
  },
  "population": "Human peripheral blood lymphocytes from six healthy donors (in vitro; exposed during G2 phase and observed at metaphase)",
  "sample_size": 6,
  "outcomes": [
    "Chromatid-type chromosome aberrations (gaps and breaks)",
    "Achromatic lesions (gaps)",
    "Terminal deletions (breaks)"
  ],
  "main_findings": "Peripheral blood lymphocytes from six donors exposed to UMTS (3G) mobile phone radiation during G2 phase showed highly significant increases in chromatid-type aberrations (gaps and breaks), reported as up to 275% compared with sham-exposed controls. The induced aberrations were mainly gaps and secondarily breaks, and sensitivity varied between subjects.",
  "effect_direction": "harm",
  "limitations": [
    "Exposure duration not stated in provided abstract/excerpts",
    "Specific statistical methods and absolute aberration rates not provided in provided abstract/excerpts",
    "In vitro lymphocyte study; generalizability to in vivo human health outcomes not addressed in provided abstract/excerpts"
  ],
  "evidence_strength": "low",
  "confidence": 0.74,
  "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
  "keywords": [
    "UMTS",
    "3G",
    "mobile telephony",
    "mobile phone handset",
    "microwave EMF",
    "RF",
    "human peripheral blood lymphocytes",
    "G2 phase",
    "metaphase",
    "chromatid aberrations",
    "genotoxicity",
    "chromosome damage"
  ],
  "suggested_hubs": [
    {
      "slug": "who-icnirp",
      "weight": 0.62,
      "reason": "Mentions exposures within current limits and cites ICNIRP (1998, 2010)."
    }
  ]
}

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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: 10.4149/gpb_2019032
PubMed: Not supplied

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