Study type: Medical/biological study (experimental study)

Effects of electromagnetic fields emitted from W-CDMA-like mobile phones on sleep in humans med./bio.

Published in: Bioelectromagnetics 2013; 34 (8): 589-598

Aim of study (acc. to author)

To examine the subjective and objective effects of exposure to a WCDMA-like signal on human sleep.

Background/further details

19 subjects participated in the experiment on 3 consecutive days. They were sham exposed the first day and exposed or sham exposed on day 2 or 3, respectively. 5 hours prior to their individual sleep time, the probands were exposed for 3 hours. During sleep, polysomnographic data and EEG were recorded. The next morning, sleepiness and sleep insufficiency were evaluated.

Endpoint

Exposure

Exposure Parameters
Exposure 1: 1,950 MHz
Exposure duration: 3 hours every evening with 5 minutes break every hour
  • SAR: 1.52 W/kg maximum (10 g) (head)
  • SAR: 0.13 W/kg maximum (10 g) (brain)

Exposure 1

Main characteristics
Frequency 1,950 MHz
Type
Exposure duration 3 hours every evening with 5 minutes break every hour
Additional info downlink of the base station: 2140 MHz
Exposure setup
Exposure source
Chamber mobile phone was fixed to the left side of the subject's head with a commercial headgear made of 78% polyester and 22% polyurethane
Setup exposure was performed in a shielded room; mobile phone was controlled by a base station generator placed outside the shielded room, and a rod antenna was used to transmit W-CDMA-like signals with a maximum output power of 250 mW; the base station antenna, with a small output power of about 3.2 x 10-7 mW to minimize possible exposure from the base station, was placed 3 m away from the subject in the exposure room
Sham exposure A sham exposure was conducted.
Parameters
Measurand Value Type Method Mass Remarks
SAR 1.52 W/kg maximum calculated 10 g head
SAR 0.13 W/kg maximum calculated 10 g brain

Reference articles

  • Nagaoka T et al. (2004): Development of realistic high-resolution whole-body voxel models of Japanese adult males and females of average height and weight, and application of models to radio-frequency electromagnetic-field dosimetry

Exposed system:

Methods Endpoint/measurement parameters/methodology

Investigated system:
Time of investigation:
  • after exposure

Main outcome of study (acc. to author)

Regarding the subjective parameters, no significant differences were reported between the sham exposure and the exposure conditions. Additionally, the polysomnographic data as well as EEG recordings did not differ significantly between the sham exposure and the exposure conditions.
The authors conclude that exposure to a WCDMA-like signal has no subjective and objective effects on the human sleep.

Study character:

Study funded by

Related articles