Medical/biological study (experimental study)

Effects of electromagnetic fields emitted from W-CDMA-like mobile phones on sleep in humans med./bio.

By: Nakatani-Enomoto S, Furubayashi T, Ushiyama A, Groiss SJ, Ueshima K, Sokejima S, Simba AY, Wake K, Watanabe SI, Nishikawa M, Miyawaki K, Taki M, Ugawa Y

Published in: Bioelectromagnetics 2013; 34 (8): 589-598

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Aim of study (acc. to author)

To examine the subjective and objective effects of exposure to a WCDMA-like signal on human sleep.

Background/further details

19 subjects participated in the experiment on 3 consecutive days. They were sham exposed the first day and exposed or sham exposed on day 2 or 3, respectively. 5 hours prior to their individual sleep time, the probands were exposed for 3 hours. During sleep, polysomnographic data and EEG were recorded. The next morning, sleepiness and sleep insufficiency were evaluated.

Endpoint

sleep: EEG changes, polysomnographic data, sleepiness

Exposure

- W-CDMA
- mobile communications
- mobile phone

Exposure	Parameters
Exposure 1: 1,950 MHz Exposure duration: 3 hours every evening with 5 minutes break every hour	SAR: 1.52 W/kg maximum (10 g) (head) SAR: 0.13 W/kg maximum (10 g) (brain)

Exposure 1

Main characteristics

Frequency	1,950 MHz
Type	electromagnetic field
Exposure duration	3 hours every evening with 5 minutes break every hour
Additional info	downlink of the base station: 2140 MHz

Exposure setup

Exposure source	cellular phone
Chamber	mobile phone was fixed to the left side of the subject's head with a commercial headgear made of 78% polyester and 22% polyurethane
Setup	exposure was performed in a shielded room; mobile phone was controlled by a base station generator placed outside the shielded room, and a rod antenna was used to transmit W-CDMA-like signals with a maximum output power of 250 mW; the base station antenna, with a small output power of about 3.2 x 10^-7 mW to minimize possible exposure from the base station, was placed 3 m away from the subject in the exposure room
Sham exposure	A sham exposure was conducted.

Parameters

Measurand	Value	Type	Method	Mass	Remarks
SAR	1.52 W/kg	maximum	calculated	10 g	head
SAR	0.13 W/kg	maximum	calculated	10 g	brain

Reference articles

Nagaoka T et al. (2004): Development of realistic high-resolution whole-body voxel models of Japanese adult males and females of average height and weight, and application of models to radio-frequency electromagnetic-field dosimetry

Exposed system:

human
partial body: left ear

Methods Endpoint/measurement parameters/methodology

sleep: power spectrum (EEG); polysomnographic data (sleep latencies (time from bedtime to falling asleep and time from first sleep to first REM sleep), rapid eye movement (REM sleep), number of arousals, sleep efficacy); subjective sleepiness (questionnaires); subjective sleep insufficiency (visual analogue scale)
surface temperature of head

Investigated system:

investigation on living organism

Time of investigation:

after exposure

Main outcome of study (acc. to author)

Regarding the subjective parameters, no significant differences were reported between the sham exposure and the exposure conditions. Additionally, the polysomnographic data as well as EEG recordings did not differ significantly between the sham exposure and the exposure conditions.
The authors conclude that exposure to a WCDMA-like signal has no subjective and objective effects on the human sleep.

Study character:

medical/biological study
experimental study
full/main study
double-blind study

Study funded by

Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan

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