Posted by Robert Daniel on 3/10/2015 to
Wireless
Original Source
As described by the authors of a newly published article [1] dealing with the exposure of mice to radiofrequency (RF) radiation fields, the results are “worrying.”
Article/ Study Highlights (as summarized by the authors)
- Tumor-promoting effects of RF-EMF exposed mice have been [previously] reported in 2010.
- We have replicated the study with higher numbers of mice per group.
- We could fully confirm the previous results, thus the effects are reproducible.
- Apparently, no clear dose-response relationship is evident.
- We hypothesize that metabolic changes are responsible for the effects observed.
Article Abstract
The vast majority of in vitro and in vivo studies [previously] did not find [carcinogenic] effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF), i.e. emitted by mobile phones and base stations. … Published results from a pilot study with carcinogen-treated mice, however, suggested tumor-promoting effects of RF-EMF (Tillmann et al., 2010).
We have performed a replication study using higher numbers of animals per group and including two additional exposure levels (0 (sham), 0.04, 0.4 and 2 W/kg SAR).
We could confirm and extend the originally reported findings.
Numbers of tumors of the lungs and livers in exposed animals were significantly higher than in sham-exposed controls. In addition, lymphomas were also found to be significantly elevated by exposure. A clear dose-response effect is absent. We hypothesize that these tumor-promoting effects may be caused by metabolic changes due to exposure. Since many of the tumor-promoting effects in our study were seen at low to moderate exposure levels (0.04 and 0.4 W/kg SAR), thus well below exposure limits for the users of mobile phones, further studies are warranted to investigate the underlying mechanisms.
Our findings may help to understand the repeatedly reported increased incidences of brain tumors in heavy users of mobile phones.
Selected Quotations from Article
“Our study confirms and extends the previously published observations of tumor-promoting effects of life-long RF-EMF exposure. The numbers of both adenomas and carcinomas were significantly increased in the lungs, and carcinomas were significantly elevated in the livers of RF-EMF exposed animals …”“The fact that both studies [in 2010 and in the current study] found basically the same tumor-promoting effects at levels below the accepted (and in most countries legally defined) exposure limits for humans is worrying.”
Analysis
It should be kept in mind that this study did not specifically look for tumor production solely based upon exposure to RF radiation. In fact female mice were injected with a known carcinogen, ethylnitrosourea (ENU); the offspring were then observed for tumor production based upon being exposed to differing levels of RF fields throughout their lives to determine if the RF exposure affected tumor production, presumably also related to the presence of the ENU agent.
It is extremely noteworthy that the current study results demonstrate:
- A replication of the findings of a prior study;
- Tumor production is evident at a level approximately 50 times less than most national exposure standards;
- No clear dose response effect was noted, i.e., exposure at low levels was just as likely to produce tumors as at higher levels.
It is hypothesized by the authors of the new study that RF exposure may have been responsible for changing the metabolism of the exposed animals in a way that in turn resulted in a higher uptake by the fetuses of the administered carcinogen.
The new study not only supports the 2011 declaration by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) that RF radiation fields are “possibly carcinogenic” but also demonstrates how RF fields may promote the effects of other carcinogenic agents in the production of cancer.
[1] Source Material for this Article
The following “approved manuscript” was purchased and reviewed by SkyVision Solutions:
To appear in: Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications
Received Date: 19 February 2015
Accepted Date: 25 February 2015
“Tumor Promotion by Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields Below Exposure Limits for Humans”; by A. Lerchl, M. Klose, K. Grote, A.F.X. Wilhelm, O. Spathmann, T. Fiedler, J. Streckert, V. Hansen, M. Clemens, Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications (2015), doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2015.02.151.
Note: The accepted manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form.