ID Number		72
Study Type		Human / Provocation
Model		830 MHz (FM) exposure in mobile phone users and analysis of melatonin levels on 6-OHMS melatonin metabolite in utility workers with cell phones
Details		Human subjects (n=142, from an original study of electric utility workers exposed to 60 Hz - a cell phone use arm was added ad hoc after the study was initiated). In an initial study, no change in night-time 6-OHMS excretion was observed in workers with a daily cellular telephone use of >25 minutes (n = 3) as compared to non-users. In a second study, decreased nocturnal 6-OHMS concentration and excretion in workers with a daily cellular telephone use of >25 minutes (n = 13) as compared to non-users was reported. In addition, there was also a trend of decreasing nocturnal 6-OHMS/creatinine concentration and excretion with increasing cellular telephone use. A combined effect of cellular telephone use and occupational 60-Hz MF exposure in reducing 6-OHMS excretion was also observed in the second experiment. The authors conclude that prolonged use of cellular telephones may lead to reduced melatonin production, and elevated 60-Hz MF exposures may potentiate the effect.
Findings		Effects
Status		Completed With Publication
Principal Investigator		Colorado State University, USA - jbburch@lamar.colostate.edu
Funding Agency		DOE, USA
Country		UNITED STATES
References		Burch, JB et al. Int'l J. Rad. Biol., (2002) 11:1029-1036
Comments		The mobile phone arm of the study was added after the study was already initiated. There were very few subjects with > 25 minutes of phone time per day to form statistics from, and it was unclear how accurate dose information via questionairre / interview was. It was also unclear whether the n=13 meant 13 different cell phone users each using their mobile phone >25 minutes per day, or whether some of the users may have been counted multiple times, having multipe >25 minute use days that correlated with 6-OHMS analysis collection periods.