Medical/biological study (experimental study)

Effects of mobile phone exposure (GSM 900 and WCDMA/UMTS) on polysomnography based sleep quality: An intra- and inter-individual perspective med./bio.

By: Danker-Hopfe H, Dorn H, Bolz T, Peter A, Hansen ML, Eggert T, Sauter C

Published in: Environ Res 2016; 145: 50-60

Aim of study (acc. to author)

The effects of nocturnal exposure of subjects to a GSM (900 MHz) or a WCDMA/UMTS (2 GHz) electromagnetic field on the sleep structure should be investigated.

Background/further details

30 healthy young men (18-30 years) participated in the study. Each subject was studied for a total of 10 nights, which were scheduled at an interval of approximately one night every two weeks. The first night served for adaptation and screening purposes, the remaining 9 nights were recorded. During these 9 nights, subjects were either exposed to GSM, WCDMA/UMTS or sham exposure for three nights each, following a randomized design.

Endpoint

sleep: sleep structure

Exposure

- 900–1,966 MHz
- W-CDMA
- mobile communications
- mobile phone
- GSM
- UMTS

Exposure	Parameters
Exposure 1: 900 MHz Modulation type: pulsed Exposure duration: continuous during the whole night (recording for 8 h) for a total of 3 nights GSM	SAR: 2 W/kg maximum (10 g)
Exposure 2: 1,966 MHz Exposure duration: continuous during the whole night (recording for 8 h) for a total of 3 nights WCDMA/UMTS	SAR: 2 W/kg maximum (10 g)

Exposure 1

Main characteristics

Frequency	900 MHz
Type	electromagnetic field
Exposure duration	continuous during the whole night (recording for 8 h) for a total of 3 nights
Additional info	GSM

Modulation

Modulation type	pulsed
Duty cycle	12.5 %
Repetition frequency	217 Hz

Exposure setup

Exposure source	head-worn antenna
Chamber	shielded room
Setup	a head-worn antenna with textile cushion fed by a thin RF coaxial cable was used and attached to the right side of the head during sleep; only RF immune devices were used in the exposure room, other equipment like clocks, portable players and phones were not allowed
Sham exposure	A sham exposure was conducted.

Parameters

Measurand	Value	Type	Method	Mass	Remarks
SAR	2 W/kg	maximum	measured and calculated	10 g	-

Additional parameter details

RF electric field strengths in the study room were below 0.2 V/m; low frequency electric and magnetic field strengths were 1.0 V/m and 50...70 nT at 50 Hz (utility grid), and 0.6 V/m and 22 mT for other frequencies, respectively; SAR measurements and calculations agreed within 3%; calculated SAR values for the SAM and the Visible Human head model agreed within 20%; consequences of slight variations of the antenna position were calculated as less than 2%

Measurement and calculation details

the SAR measurements were performed using a Specific Anthropomorphic Mannequin (SAM) head phantom, calculations in the SAM model and visible human head were done using Finite Difference Time Domain simulations; the antenna achieved similar SAR distributions as published for mobile phones with integrated antennas

Exposure 2

Main characteristics

Frequency	1,966 MHz
Type	electromagnetic field
Exposure duration	continuous during the whole night (recording for 8 h) for a total of 3 nights
Additional info	WCDMA/UMTS

Modulation

Modulation type	cf. additional info
Additional info	1966 MHz carrier frequency with Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) modulation and a power control emulation sequence repeated every minute; the sequence comprised 45 s of toggling between 50% and 100% maximum output power for 0.67 ms each and 15 s of simulated fading over a dynamic range of 30 dB

Exposure setup

Exposure source	same setup as exposure 1

Parameters

Measurand	Value	Type	Method	Mass	Remarks
SAR	2 W/kg	maximum	measured and calculated	10 g	-

Additional parameter details

SAR measurements and calculations agreed within 22%; calculated SAR values for the SAM and the Visible Human head model agreed within 20%; consequences of slight variations of the antenna position were calculated: a deviation of the rotating angle of 15° lead to a SAR change of less than 17%, a 2 mm increase of antenna distance from the head surface resulted in a SAR change of 9%

Reference articles

Bahr A et al. (2007): Exposure setups for laboratory animals and volunteer studies using body-mounted antennas
Bahr A et al. (2006): Dosimetric assessment of an exposure system for simulating GSM and WCDMA mobile phone usage
Ndoumbe Mbonjo Mbonjo H et al. (2004): Generic UMTS test signal for RF bioelectromagnetic studies

Exposed system:

human
partial body: head

Methods Endpoint/measurement parameters/methodology

sleep: sleep structure (total sleep time, sleep latency, REM sleep latency, wake after sleep onset, time spent in sleep stages 1, 2, 3 and in REM sleep; polysomnography)

Investigated system:

investigation on living organism

Investigated organ system:

brain/CNS

Time of investigation:

during exposure

Main outcome of study (acc. to author)

In 90% of the subjects, one or more sleep parameters were significantly different during exposure to GSM or WCDMA/UMTS fields compared to the sham exposure condition. However, effects showed no consistence between individuals except for an increased REM sleep duration (9 subjects during GSM exposure, 10 subjects during WCDMA/UMTS exposure).
The authors conclude that exposure of subjects to a GSM (900 MHz) or a WCDMA/UMTS (2 GHz) electromagnetic field might induce individual changes in the sleep structure and a general prolongation of the REM sleep phase. These changes do not necessarily indicate a disturbance of sleep.

Study character:

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

Study funded by

Deutsches Mobilfunk Forschungsprogramm (DMF; German Mobile Phone Research Programme) at Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS)

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Lustenberger C et al. (2013): Stimulation of the brain with radiofrequency electromagnetic field pulses affects sleep-dependent performance improvement
Schmid MR et al. (2012): Sleep EEG alterations: effects of pulsed magnetic fields versus pulse-modulated radio frequency electromagnetic fields
Loughran SP et al. (2012): Individual differences in the effects of mobile phone exposure on human sleep: Rethinking the problem
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Danker-Hopfe H et al. (2010): Do mobile phone base stations affect sleep of residents? Results from an experimental double-blind sham-controlled field study
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Effects of mobile phone exposure (GSM 900 and WCDMA/UMTS) on polysomnography based sleep quality: An intra- and inter-individual perspective med./bio.

Aim of study (acc. to author)

Background/further details

Endpoint

Exposure

Exposure 1

Main characteristics

Modulation

Exposure setup

Parameters

Additional parameter details

Measurement and calculation details

Exposure 2

Main characteristics

Modulation

Exposure setup

Parameters

Additional parameter details

Reference articles

Methods Endpoint/measurement parameters/methodology

Main outcome of study (acc. to author)

Study funded by

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