title: Radio frequency radiation causes no nonthermal damage in enzymes and living cells.
abstract: The ability of radio frequency radiation (RFR) to exert irreversible nonthermal (i.e., not caused by accompanying heat) effects on biologics has been widely debated due to a relative paucity of comprehensive critical details in published reports dealing with this issue. In this study, we used rigorous control over experimental conditions to determine whether continuous RFR nonthermally affects commercially important enzymes and live bacterial and human cells using three most commonly used frequencies in current RF identification technology, namely 2.45 GHz, 915 MHz, and 13.56 MHz. Diverse biological samples were exposed to RFR under deliberately harsh conditions to increase the likelihood of observing such effects should they exist. Enzymatic activities of horseradish peroxidase and β-galactosidase in aqueous solution exhibited no statistically discernable consequences of even very intense RFR. Likewise, with putative thermal effects excluded, the viabilities of bacteria (both gram-positive and gram-negative) and of human cells were not detectably compromised by such an RFR exposure.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Fortune
authors.forename: Bae-Ian
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Alexander M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Klibanov
mesh_terms: D002470:Cell Survival / Q000528:radiation effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000166:cytology / Q000528:radiation effects; D006735:Horseradish Peroxidase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D050296:Microbial Viability / Q000528:radiation effects*; D011846:Radio Waves; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000166:cytology / Q000528:radiation effects; D001616:beta-Galactosidase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D006735:Horseradish Peroxidase; D001616:beta-Galactosidase