title: Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) exposure and its impact on slow cortical potentials.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Studies have shown that exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) in the mobile communication frequency range may induce physiological modifications of both spontaneous as well as event-related human electroencephalogram. So far, there are very few peer-reviewed studies on effects of Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA), which is a digital radio communication standard used by security authorities and organizations in several European countries, on the central nervous system.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To analyze the impact of simulated TETRA handset signals at 385 MHz on slow cortical potentials (SCPs).
  
  
  METHODS
  30 young healthy males (25.2±2.7 years) were exposed in a double-blind, counterbalanced, cross-over design to one of three exposure levels (TETRA with 10 g averaged peak spatial SAR: 1.5 W/kg, 6.0 W/kg and sham). Exposure was conducted with a body worn antenna (especially designed for this study), positioned at the left side of the head. Subjects had 9 test sessions (three per exposure condition) in which three SCPs were assessed: SCP related to a clock monitoring task (CMT), Contingent negative variation (CNV) and Bereitschaftspotential (BP).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Neither behavioral measures nor the electrophysiological activity was significantly affected by exposure in the three investigated SCP paradigms. Independent of exposure, significant amplitude differences between scalp regions could be observed for the CMT-related SCP and for the CNV.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present results reveal no evidence of RF-EMF exposure-dependent brain activity modifications investigated at the behavioral and the physiological level.
authors.affiliation: Competence Centre of Sleep Medicine, Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Hindenburgdamm 30, 12200 Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: torsten.eggert@charite.de.
authors.forename: Torsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Eggert
authors.affiliation: Competence Centre of Sleep Medicine, Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Hindenburgdamm 30, 12200 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dorn
authors.affiliation: Competence Centre of Sleep Medicine, Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Hindenburgdamm 30, 12200 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Cornelia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sauter
authors.affiliation: Competence Centre of Sleep Medicine, Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Hindenburgdamm 30, 12200 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marasanov
authors.affiliation: Competence Centre of Sleep Medicine, Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Hindenburgdamm 30, 12200 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Marie-Luise
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.affiliation: Competence Centre of Sleep Medicine, Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Hindenburgdamm 30, 12200 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Peter
authors.affiliation: Seibersdorf Laboratories, 2444 Seibersdorf, Austria.
authors.forename: Gernot
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schmid
authors.affiliation: Institute of Mobile and Satellite Communication Technology GmbH, Carl-Friedrich-Gauß-Str. 2-4, 47475 Kamp-Lintfort, Germany; RF-Frontend GmbH, Suedstr. 8, 47475 Kamp-Lintfort, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bolz
authors.affiliation: Competence Centre of Sleep Medicine, Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Hindenburgdamm 30, 12200 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Danker-Hopfe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000187:drug effects*; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000528:radiation effects*; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D011846:Radio Waves / Q000009:adverse effects*
keywords: Bereitschaftspotential; Contingent negative variation; Electromagnetic fields; Event related potentials; Slow brain potentials