Experimental study of potential adverse effects on the auditory system of rabbits exposed to short-term GSM-1800 radiation

Abstract

Purpose

The effects of the electromagnetic (EM) radiation emitted by a mobile phone on the central auditory system of rabbits are investigated in this paper. Auditory brainstem response (ABR) measurements were performed before and after short-term exposure to EM radiation.

Materials and methods

Excitation was provided by a GSM-1800 emitter placed in contact with the (randomly selected) ear of the anesthetized rabbit/subject. The latency of waves I, II, III, IV, V and the interpeak latencies I-III, I-V, III-V were recorded, for both ears, before (baseline recordings) and after 1, 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes of exposure to the EM radiation. The repeated measures one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by the post hoc Tukey test for pairwise comparisons was performed in order to decide about the significance of the results.

Results

The statistical tests indicated that, as regards the ear ipsilateral to the radiating module, the mean latencies of waves I, II, III, IV, V, I-III, I-IV after 60 min exposure, the mean latencies of waves I, III, IV, V, I-III, I-IV after 45 min exposure and the mean latencies of waves I, III, IV, V, I-IV after 30 min exposure, were significantly prolonged compared to the corresponding baseline values. Statistically significant differences were also found for certain peak and interpeak latencies for 60 min exposure as compared with the corresponding results for 1 min and 15 min exposure. No statistically significant delay was observed for the latencies before and after the exposure, for the ear contralateral to the radiation source.

Conclusions

Although we found that more than 30 min exposure to GSM-1800 radiation resulted in prolongation of certain ABR components of rabbits, further investigation may be needed into the potential adverse effects on the auditory pathways.

Keywords:

• Auditory brainstem response (ABR)
• auditory system
• electromagnetic radiation exposure
• GSM-1800
• mobile phones
• rodent

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Antigoni E. Kaprana

Antigoni E. Kaprana, PhD, is a medical doctor of otorhinolaryngology, at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital Aachen, Germany.

Ioannis O. Vardiambasis

Ioannis O. Vardiambasis, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Microwave Communications at the Department of Electronic Engineering, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Chania, Crete, Greece.

Theodoros N. Kapetanakis

Theodoros N. Kapetanakis, PhD, is an Academic Fellow at the Laboratory of Telecommunications & Electromagnetic Applications of the Department of Electronic Engineering, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Chania, Crete, Greece.

Melina P. Ioannidou

Melina P. Ioannidou, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Telecommunications at the Department of Information & Electronic Engineering, International Hellenic University, Thessaloniki, Greece.

Christos D. Nikolopoulos

Christos D. Nikolopoulos, PhD, is a newly elected Assistant Professor of Telecommunication Systems at the Department of Electronic Engineering, Hellenic Mediterranean University, Chania, Crete, Greece.

Grigorios E. Lyronis

Grigorios E. Lyronis, PhD, is a medical doctor of anesthesiology, at the Department of Anesthesiology, St. Bernhard Hospital, Kamp-Lintfort, Germany.