Health effects of WiFi radiation: a review based on systematic quality evaluation

Figures & data

Figure 1. Identification and selection of studies on the health or biological effects of exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields from WiFi.

Table 1. Overview of included epidemiologic and human experimental studies.

Type of study, reference	Participants	WiFi signal	Exposure levels	Exposure duration	WiFi association observed^a	WiFi association absent^a
Epidemiological, Bektas et al. (2020)	149 pregnant volunteers	Self-reported exposure	Not reported	Less or more than 2 h/day	None	Biomarkers for oxidative stress in human placenta and cord blood immediately after birth, genotoxicity in cord blood cells
Epidemiological, Bolte et al. (2019); including pilot study of Bogers et al. (2018)	57 self-declared EHS in the main study; 7 in the pilot study (male & female)	2400–2500 MHz, measured by personal exposimeter	Rate of change metric, time above 0.1 mW/m^2 (pilot: number of samples above 0.1 mW/m²)	5 days of measurements (pilot: 21 days)	Sum score of nonspecific symptoms and severity of the most relevant complaint in one participant (pilot: in two participants some symptoms decreased, in two participants some symptoms increased)	No association on various nonspecific symptoms in 56 study participants (pilot: no association in 3 participants)
Epidemiological, Guxens et al. (2019)	3102 children, aged 5 years	Presence of WiFi at home as reported by mother	Not reported	At the time of the cross-sectional survey	None	Emotional and behavioral problems
Epidemiological, Huss et al. (2015)	2361 children, aged 7 years	Presence of WiFi at home as reported by mother	Not reported	Two years prior to the cross-sectional survey	Higher sleep anxiety in children with WiFi at home (negative control outcome)	7 subscales of the Child Sleep Habits Questionnaire
Epidemiological, Redmayne et al. (2013)	373 adolescents (10-14 years)	Presence of WiFi at home as reported by mother	Not reported	At the time of the cross-sectional survey	Reduced waking in the night	Various self-reported symptoms
Human experimental, Andrianome et al. (2017)	10 self-declared EHS (male & female)	2.45 GHz, IEEE 802.11	Electric field: 1 V/m	5 min	None	Activity of the autonomic nervous system
Human experimental, Andrianome et al. (2019)	10 self-declared EHS (male & female)	2.45 GHz, IEEE 802.11	Electric field: 1 V/m	5 min	None	Salivary biomarkers (alpha amylase, cortisol, IgA)
Human experimental, Danker-Hopfe et al. (2020)	34 young healthy male participants	2.45 GHz, IEEE 802.11 b	Peak SAR: <25 mW/kg; average SAR over 6 min: <6.4 mW/kg	8 h	Reduction in global EEG power in the alpha frequency band (8.00–11.75 Hz) during NREM sleep	Subjective sleep quality, recorded macrostructure (sleep onset latency, total sleep time, sleep efficiency index, distribution of sleep stages, arousal), sleep microstructure (24 out of 25 parameters of the spectral global EEG power)
Human experimental, Hosseini et al. (2019)	45 university students (male & female), 19-43 years	2.45 GHz, IEEE 802.11 b/g/n	4.1 V/m; 0.446 W/m^2	120 min	None	Reaction time, short-term memory, reasoning ability
Human experimental, Papageorgiou et al. (2011)	30 healthy young adults (males and females)	2.45 GHz, OFDM modulation	Electric field: 0.49 V/m (not reported how value was determined)	Unclear	Gender * exposure interaction within specific condition of Hayling sentence completion test (inhibition condition)	Attention and working memory operation of the brain, EEG activity
Human experimental, Zentai et al. (2015)	30 healthy young adults (males and females)	2.45 GHz, IEEE 802.11 b/g	Peak SAR: 6.57 mW/kg	60 min	None	Spontaneous awake electroencephalographic activity, psychomotor Vigilance Test, self-reported fatigue

a For detailed outcomes see Tables S3–S5 (supplemental material 1).

Table 2. Overview of included in vivo and in vitro studies.

Type of study, reference	Biological material	WiFi signal	Exposure levels	Exposure duration	WiFi association observed^a	WiFi association absent^a
In vivo, Ait-Aissa et al. (2010)	60 rats (Wistar, female, 12 per group) and offspring (3 pups per litter kept in experiment)	2.45 GHz, IEEE 802.11 b/g	SAR: dams: 0.08, 0.4, and 4 W/kg; pups: up to 12 W/kg	2 h/day, 5 days/week, day 6–21 of gestation, day 1–35 postnatal	None	Neurotoxicity (gliosis, apoptosis) in offspring
In vivo, Ait-Aissa et al. (2012)	60 rats (Wistar, female, 12 per group) and offspring (3 pups per litter kept in experiment)	2.45 GHz, IEEE 802.11 b/g	SAR: dams: 0.08, 0.4, and 4 W/kg; pups: up to 9 +/- 3 W/kg	2 h/day, 5 days/week, day 6–21 of gestation, day 1–35 postnatal	None	Immunological stress markers and growth of young rats, body mass and litter size of female rats
In vivo, Ait-Aissa et al. (2013)	60 rats (Wistar, female, 12 per group) and offspring (3 pups per litter kept in experiment)	2.45 GHz, IEEE 802.11 b/g	SAR: dams: 0.08, 0.4, and 4 W/kg; pups: up to 9 +/- 3 W/kg	2 h/day, 5 days/week, day 6–21 of gestation, day 1–35 postnatal	None	Stress markers in offspring (heat shock proteins (Hsp) and 3-Nitrotyrosine (3-NT) in rat brains)
In vivo, Dasdag et al. (2015)	16 rats (Wistar, male, 8 per group)	2.4 GHz, IEEE 802.11	1.02 mW/kg	24 h/day, 7 days/week, 12 months	Increased sperm head defects; decreased weight of epididymis and seminal vesicles; decreased seminiferous tubules diameter and tunica albuginea thickness	Sperm motility and concentration; total morphologic and tail defects of sperms; weight of testes and prostate; Johnsen’s Biopsy score
In vivo, Poulletier de Gannes et al. (2012)	100 rats (Wistar, female, 20 per group) and offspring (of 75 dams)	2.45 GHz, IEEE 802.11 b/g	SAR: 0.08, 0.4 and 4 W/kg	2 h/day, 6 days/week, 18 days	Increase in food consumption during postexposure lactation period for rats exposed at 0.4 W/kg (but not 0.08 and 4 W/kg)	Maternal mortality, morbidity, body weight; Fertility: litter size and stillbirths Offspring: body weight, physical and functional development, behavioral abnormalities
In vivo, Poulletier de Gannes et al. (2013)	72 rats (Wistar, 9 male and 9 female per group)	2.45 GHz, IEEE 802.11 b/g	SAR: 0.08 and 4 W/kg	1 h/day, 6 days/week, 5-6 weeks	None (some incidental abnormalities observed)	Rat fertility and fetal development such as body and organ weight, food consumption, organ development, stillbirths
In vivo, Laudisi et al. (2012)	48 mice (C57BL/6)	2.45 GHz	SAR: 4 W/kg	2 h/day, starting 5 days after mating and ending 1 day before expected delivery (14 consecutive days of exposure)	Increased CD4+/CD8+ T cell population in thymus (males at 26 weeks) Reduced CD4+/CD8- T cell populations in thymus (females at week 5, males at 26 weeks)	T cell development and function (thymocyte number and proliferation, peripheral T cells, IFN-γ production)
In vivo, Sambucci et al. (2010)	48 mice (C57BL/6)	2.45 GHz	SAR: 4 W/kg	2 h/day, starting 5 days after mating and ending 1 day before expected delivery (14 consecutive days of exposure)	Higher body weight (male offspring, week 5)	Pregnancy outcome and the immune B cell compartment, including antibody production (IgM, IgG)
In vivo, Sambucci et al. (2011)	48 mice (C57BL/6)	2.45 GHz	SAR: 0.08 or 4 W/kg	2 h/day, 5 days/week, for 5 consecutive weeks starting the day after birth	Reduced IFN-γ production in CD4+ splenic T cells from exposed (SAR 4 W/kg) male (but not female) mice	Body weight, thymocyte maturation, peripheral T cell compartment, B cell proliferation, serum antibody concentrations (IgM, IgG)
In vitro, Kuzniar et al. (2017)	Cultured cells (human osteosarcomas and fibroblasts, murine embryonic stem cells)	5.8 GHz, IEEE 802.11a	Electric field: 9.5 V/m	24 h	None	Less than 1% of the quantitated human or mouse proteome is differentially regulated in response to exposure
In vitro, Schuermann et al. (2020)	Cultured cells (human fibroblasts and trophoblasts)	1.95 GHz, IEEE802.11g	SAR: 0.5, 2, 4.9 W/kg	Intermittent (5/10 min on/off) 1, 4, 24 h	None	DNA single-strand breaks and oxidative DNA damage (MRC-5 cells, HTR-8/SVneo trophoblasts)

a For detailed outcomes see Tables S3–S5 (supplemental material 1).

Bektas, H., Dasdag, S., & Bektas, M. S. (2020). Comparison of effects of 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi and mobile phone exposure on human placenta and cord blood. Biotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment, 34(1), 154–162. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/13102818.2020.1725639

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Bolte, J. F. B., Clahsen, S., Vercruijsse, W., Houtveen, J. H., Schipper, C. M. A., van Kamp, I., & Bogers, R. (2019). Ecological momentary assessment study of exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields and non-specific physical symptoms with self-declared electrosensitives. Environment International, 131, 104948. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2019.104948

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Guxens, M., Vermeulen, R., Steenkamer, I., Beekhuizen, J., Vrijkotte, T. G. M., Kromhout, H., & Huss, A. (2019). Radiofrequency electromagnetic fields, screen time, and emotional and behavioural problems in 5-year-old children. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, 222(2), 188–194. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2018.09.006

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Huss, A., van Eijsden, M., Guxens, M., Beekhuizen, J., van Strien, R., Kromhout, H., Vrijkotte, T., & Vermeulen, R. (2015). Environmental radiofrequency electromagnetic fields exposure at home, mobile and cordless phone use, and sleep problems in 7-year-old children. PLoS One, 10(10), e0139869. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0139869

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Zentai, N., Csatho, A., Trunk, A., Fiocchi, S., Parazzini, M., Ravazzani, P., Thuroczy, G., & Hernadi, I. (2015). No effects of acute exposure to Wi-Fi electromagnetic fields on spontaneous eeg activity and psychomotor vigilance in healthy human volunteers. Radiation Research, 184(6), 568–577. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1667/RR13896.1

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