Assessment of the role of specific absorption rate of mobile phones on the induction of microwave-induced survival adaptive responses after exposure to lethal doses of gamma radiation

Abstract

Background: Whether exposure to common electromagne c fields affects human health adversely has been a controversial issue. The main goal of this study was to assess the role of 900 MHz microwave radia ons with different specific absorp on rates (SARs), emi ed from some widely used cell phones, on the induc on of adap ve response in male Balb/c mice a er receiving a lethal dose of gamma radia on. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted on 120 male Balb/c mice. The animals were divided into groups of 20 mice each (6 groups). Group one (the control group) received neither microwave radia on nor the lethal dose of gamma radia on. Group two was exposed only to the lethal dose of 8.8 Gy. The mice in group three were first exposed to low SAR 900 MHz microwave radia ons emi ed from a cell phone for six hours (3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the a ernoon) for 5 days and then were exposed to a lethal dose of 8.8 Gy on day six. The mice in group 4 were treated as those in group 3 but with a moderate SAR and the mice in group 5 were also treated as those in groups 3 and 4 but with a high SAR. The mice in group six were exposed only to high SAR 900 MHz microwaves. Results: All groups were monitored for 12 days and their daily mortality rates were recorded. The results showed that there was a sta s cally significant difference between group two (the animals exposed only to lethal dose of gamma radia on) and the groups with a pre‐exposure to microwave radia ons before receiving the lethal dose. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that inves gates the role of SAR on the induc on of microwave‐induced survival adap ve response. It can be concluded that 900 MHz microwaves emi ed from cell phones, regardless of their SAR can induce adap ve responses which make the animals more resistant to subsequent lethal doses of ionizing radia on. These findings also confirm our preliminary findings obtained in a previous study.