Medical/biological study (experimental study)

Do mobile phone base stations affect sleep of residents? Results from an experimental double-blind sham-controlled field study med./bio.

By: Danker-Hopfe H, Dorn H, Bornkessel C, Sauter C

Published in: Am J Hum Biol 2010; 22 (5): 613-618

Aim of study (acc. to author)

To study the effects of electromagnetic fields of mobile phone base stations on objective and subjective sleep quality.

Background/further details

397 residents (aged 18-81 years; 50.9 % female) from 10 German sites, where no mobile phone service was available, were exposed to sham exposure and GSM base station signals by an experimental base station while their sleep was monitored at their homes. Participants were randomly exposed to real or sham exposure for five nights each. 335 subjects were included in objective sleep quality analysis and 365 subjects in subjective sleep quality.

Endpoint

sleep: subjective and objective sleep quality

Exposure

- mobile communications
- digital mobile phone
- mobile phone base station
- GSM
- wireless transmitter/antenna

Exposure	Parameters
Exposure 1: 900–1,800 MHz Exposure duration: 5 nights	-

Exposure 1

Main characteristics

Frequency	900–1,800 MHz
Type	electromagnetic field
Exposure duration	5 nights

Exposure setup

Exposure source	simulated GSM base station
Setup	two GSM 900 and two GSM 1800 channels were used for each sector; channels set to maximum transmit power in all eight time slots; additional generic GSM signals using six of the eight available time slots were transmitted to all sectors for both GSM 900 and GSM 1,800 to increase amplitude modulation
Sham exposure	A sham exposure was conducted.
Additional info	distance of the experimental base station to the houses: up to 500 m

Parameters

No parameters are specified for this exposure.

Reference articles

Bornkessel C et al. (2007): [Determination of public exposure in the vicinity of GSM and UMTS base stations]

Exposed system:

human
whole body

Methods Endpoint/measurement parameters/methodology

sleep: subjective (questionnaire; visual analog scale; Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index ) and objective (EEG, EOG) sleep quality
questionnaire on general public's fears and anxieties concerning possible risks of RF-EMF from mobile telecommunication

Investigated system:

investigation on living organism

Investigated organ system:

brain/CNS

Time of investigation:

before exposure
during exposure
after exposure

Main outcome of study (acc. to author)

The analysis of the subjective and objective sleep data did not reveal any significant differences between the real exposure and sham exposure. During sham exposure nights, objective and subjective sleep efficiency, wake after sleep onset, and subjective sleep latency were significantly worse in participants with concerns about possible health risks resulting from base stations than in participants who were not concerned.
In conclusion, the study did not provide any evidence for short-term physiological effects of electromagnetic fields emitted by mobile phone base stations on objective and subjective sleep quality. However, the findings indicate that mobile phone base stations as such (not the electromagnetic fields) may have a significant negative impact on sleep quality.

Study character:

medical/biological study
experimental study
full/main study
double-blind study, cross-over study

Study funded by

Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz (BfS; Federal Office for Radiation Protection), Salzgitter, Germany
Deutsches Mobilfunk Forschungsprogramm (DMF; German Mobile Phone Research Programme) at Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS)

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