GSM radiocellular telephones do not disturb the secretion of antepituitary hormones in humans

Abstract

It is known that the endocrine system of experimental animals is susceptible to perturbation by radiofrequency (RF) radiation. Because of the recent interest in health and safety issues of cellular telephones, an experiment was designed to evaluate the effect of a 900 MHz RF radiation emitted by a Global System for Mobile radiotelephone (217 Hz impulses, one-eighth duty cycle, 2 W peak power) on human endocrine functions. Twenty healthy male volunteers aged from 19 to 40 were inducted in the present experiment. Each subject was exposed to RF radiation through the use of a cellular phone 2 h/day, 5 days/wk, for 1 month. Subjects were their own control. End points were serum adrenocorticotropin, thyrotropin, growth hormone, prolactin, luteinizing hormone, and follicle stimulating hormone concentrations. These end points were determined in nine weekly blood samples obtained starting 3 weeks before the commencement of the exposure and ending 2 weeks after exposures. All but one blood sample was drawn 48 h after each weekly session. The seventh drawing was performed the morning after the last weekly exposure. Within each individual, the preexposure hormone concentration was used as a control. Results indicated that all hormone concentrations remained within normal physiologic ranges. A difference was not noted among the nine weekly samples in five of six hormones studied. There was a significant change only in thyrotropin concentration, showing a 21% decrease on the seventh sampling. Because this change recovered fully during the postexposure period, it is concluded that 1 month of intermittent exposures to RF radiation from a cellular telephone does not induce a long-lasting or cumulative effect on the hormone secretion rate of the anterior pituitary gland in humans.