Mobile Phone Base Station Tower Settings Adjacent to School Buildings: Impact on Students' Cognitive Health.

2018 · Harm · Low evidence

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HarmLow evidencePaper 1928

Study snapshot

Publicationmanual · 2018

Study typecross_sectional

Reported directionHarm

Evidence ratingLow

Abstract

Mobile Phone Base Station Tower Settings Adjacent to School Buildings: Impact on Students' Cognitive Health. Meo SA, Almahmoud M, Alsultan Q, Alotaibi N, Alnajashi I, Hajjar WM. Mobile phone base station tower settings adjacent to school buildings: Impact on students' cognitive health. Am J Mens Health. 2018 Dec 7:1557988318816914. doi: 10.1177/1557988318816914. Abstract The use of mobile phones has remarkably increased and become a basic need of daily life. Increasing subscriptions of mobile phones boost the installation of mobile phone base station towers (MPBSTs) in crowded commercial and residential areas including near school buildings. This study investigated the impact of exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) radiation generated by MPBSTs on cognitive functions. Two hundred and seventeen volunteer male students aged between 13 and 16 registered from two different intermediate schools: 124 students were from School 1 and 93 students were from School 2. The MPBSTs were located within 200 m from the school buildings. In School 1, RF-EMF was 2.010 µW/cm2 with a frequency of 925 MHz and in School 2, RF-EMF was 10.021 µW/cm2 with a frequency of 925 MHz. Students were exposed to EMFR for 6 hr a day, 5 days a week for a total period of 2 years. The Narda Safety Test Solution device SRM-3006 was used to measure RF-EMF in both schools, and cognitive functions tasks were measured by the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB). Significant impairment in Motor Screening Task (MOT; p = .03) and Spatial Working Memory (SWM) task (p = .04) was identified among the group of students who were exposed to high RF-EMF produced by MPBSTs. High exposure to RF-EMF produced by MPBSTs was associated with delayed fine and gross motor skills, spatial working memory, and attention in school adolescents compared to students who were exposed to low RF-EMF. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov Note: In this cross-sectional study, students in two schools that are exposed to different amounts of microwave radiation from nearby cell towers were compared at one time. In my opinion, the authors did not adequately control for confounding that may explain the observed differences between the two groups of students. Also, the statistical tests are problematic because the students within each school are not independent of each other which the tests assume. Hence, I would not cite this study as evidence of cell tower effects.

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 typecross_sectional

Effect directionharm

PopulationVolunteer male students aged 13–16 years from two intermediate schools

Sample size217

ExposureRF · 925 MHz · 6 hr/day, 5 days/week for 2 years

Evidence strengthLowConfidence: 78% · Peer reviewed: yes

Main findings

Among students attending the school with higher measured RF-EMF (10.021 µW/cm2 at 925 MHz vs 2.010 µW/cm2 at 925 MHz), statistically significant impairments were reported for Motor Screening Task (p = .03) and Spatial Working Memory (p = .04). The authors state that higher RF-EMF exposure from nearby base station towers was associated with delayed fine and gross motor skills, spatial working memory, and attention compared with lower exposure.

Outcomes measured

Cognitive functions (CANTAB)
Motor Screening Task (MOT)
Spatial Working Memory (SWM)
Attention
Fine and gross motor skills

Limitations

Cross-sectional comparison of two schools (single time-point)
Potential confounding not described/controlled in the abstract
Clustered data by school may violate independence assumptions (as noted in provided text)
Only male students included
Exposure assessment limited to measurements at schools; individual-level exposure not described

View raw extracted JSON

{
  "study_type": "cross_sectional",
  "exposure": {
    "band": "RF",
    "source": "base station",
    "frequency_mhz": 925,
    "sar_wkg": null,
    "duration": "6 hr/day, 5 days/week for 2 years"
  },
  "population": "Volunteer male students aged 13–16 years from two intermediate schools",
  "sample_size": 217,
  "outcomes": [
    "Cognitive functions (CANTAB)",
    "Motor Screening Task (MOT)",
    "Spatial Working Memory (SWM)",
    "Attention",
    "Fine and gross motor skills"
  ],
  "main_findings": "Among students attending the school with higher measured RF-EMF (10.021 µW/cm2 at 925 MHz vs 2.010 µW/cm2 at 925 MHz), statistically significant impairments were reported for Motor Screening Task (p = .03) and Spatial Working Memory (p = .04). The authors state that higher RF-EMF exposure from nearby base station towers was associated with delayed fine and gross motor skills, spatial working memory, and attention compared with lower exposure.",
  "effect_direction": "harm",
  "limitations": [
    "Cross-sectional comparison of two schools (single time-point)",
    "Potential confounding not described/controlled in the abstract",
    "Clustered data by school may violate independence assumptions (as noted in provided text)",
    "Only male students included",
    "Exposure assessment limited to measurements at schools; individual-level exposure not described"
  ],
  "evidence_strength": "low",
  "confidence": 0.78,
  "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
  "keywords": [
    "radiofrequency",
    "RF-EMF",
    "mobile phone base station",
    "cell tower",
    "school",
    "adolescents",
    "cognitive function",
    "CANTAB",
    "925 MHz",
    "exposure measurement",
    "SRM-3006"
  ],
  "suggested_hubs": [
    {
      "slug": "school-wi-fi",
      "weight": 0.2,
      "reason": "School setting and RF-EMF exposure; however exposure source is base stations, not Wi‑Fi."
    },
    {
      "slug": "5g-policy",
      "weight": 0.15,
      "reason": "Policy-relevant topic on base station proximity to schools, though frequency is 925 MHz (not 5G)."
    }
  ]
}

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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: 10.1177/1557988318816914
PubMed: Not supplied

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