To study the effects of exposure to radiofrequency irradiation, emitted by GSM cellular phones, on cognitive functions of humans. The study was a follow-up of previous studies (Eliyahu et al. 2006 and Luria et al. 2009) with a modified exposure set-up (with external antennas away from the body of the subjects to exclude effects of radiofrequency).
29 healthy males (right-handed) were divided into two groups: 1) exposure to the left side of the head (15 subjects) and 2) exposure to the right side of the head (14 subjects). All partcipants performed a spatial working memory task (that required either a left-hand or a right-hand response; three blocks of 50 trials).
Exposure | Parameters |
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Exposure 1:
890.2 MHz
Exposure duration:
not specified in the article
|
|
Test persons were divided into two groups: i) exposure at the left side of the head ii) exposure at the right side of the head
Frequency | 890.2 MHz |
---|---|
Type | |
Exposure duration | not specified in the article |
Exposure source |
|
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Distance between exposed object and exposure source | 2 m |
Setup | two mobile phones attached to both sides of the head by a non-conductive frame in a position similiar to normal use; internal antenna positioned 1.5 cm away from the head; to exclude RF signals at the head, the phone's internal antenna was disabled and the signal was transmitted through an external remote antenna which was connected to the phone via a cable; phones silent during the test |
Measurand | Value | Type | Method | Mass | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
power | 2 W | peak value | measured | - | - |
power density | 0.1 µW/cm² | - | measured | - | at the subject's head |
SAR | 0.54 W/kg | minimum | measured | - | - |
SAR | 1.09 W/kg | maximum | measured | - | - |
Despite the different exposure setup with external antennas, the data remained similar to those obtained in the previous work (Eliyahu et al. 2006 and Luria et al. 2009): During the first block, the average reaction time of the right-hand responses under left-side exposure showed a trend for longer reaction times relative to the right-side exposure. These results indicate that some of the effects previously attributed to radiofrequency could be the result of some confounders (e.g. non-radiofrequency heating or low frequency magnetic field caused by the battery).
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