Short GSM mobile phone exposure does not alter human auditory brainstem response.
BACKGROUND
There are about 1.6 billion GSM cellular phones in use throughout the world today. Numerous papers have reported various biological effects in humans exposed to electromagnetic fields emitted by mobile phones. The aim of the present study was to advance our understanding of potential adverse effects of the GSM mobile phones on the human hearing system.


METHODS
Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) was recorded with three non-polarizing Ag-AgCl scalp electrodes in thirty young and healthy volunteers (age 18-26 years) with normal hearing. ABR data were collected before, and immediately after a 10 minute exposure to 900 MHz pulsed electromagnetic field (EMF) emitted by a commercial Nokia 6310 mobile phone. Fifteen subjects were exposed to genuine EMF and fifteen to sham EMF in a double blind and counterbalanced order. Possible effects of irradiation was analyzed by comparing the latency of ABR waves I, III and V before and after genuine/sham EMF exposure.


RESULTS
Paired sample t-test was conducted for statistical analysis. Results revealed no significant differences in the latency of ABR waves I, III and V before and after 10 minutes of genuine/sham EMF exposure.


CONCLUSIONS
The present results suggest that, in our experimental conditions, a single 10 minute exposure of 900 MHz EMF emitted by a commercial mobile phone does not produce measurable immediate effects in the latency of auditory brainstem waves I, III and V.
Stefanics
Gábor
G
Department of Experimental Zoology and Neurobiology, University of Pécs, Hungary. gstefan@cogpsyphy.hu
Kellényi
Lóránd
L
Molnár
Ferenc
F
Kubinyi
Györgyi
G
Thuróczy
György
G
Hernádi
István
I
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D040421:Cell Phone / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003132:Commerce / Q000295:instrumentation; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016057:Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem / Q000528:radiation effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011846:Radio Waves / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000145:classification; D013997:Time Factors