ID Number		772
Study Type		Epidemiology
Model		900 MHz (GSM) exposure to residents of France from base stations and correlation with subjective complaints
Details		Human volunteers (n = 530) living various distances from mobile phone base stations were surveyed by questionnaire regarding various subjective disorders. The subjects were also asked to estimate their residential proximity to the nearest mobile phone tower. The authors reported significant associations between residential proximity within 300 m of a base station and tiredness. They also report associations between residence within 200 m and the incidence of headache, sleep disruption, and discomfort, and 100 m with the incidence of irritability, depression, loss of memory, dizziness, and libido decrease. In addition, women were affected more often than men with regard to headache, nausea, loss of appetite, sleep disruption, depression, sidcomfort, and visual disruptions. In a similar study in Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine (2002), human volunteers at a French Engineering School (n = 78 plus 83 controls) were surveyed by questionnaire regarding their cell phone exposure history and various subjective disorders including headaches, sleep problems, concentration difficulty, loss of memory, tiredness, etc. In this study, the authors reported a significant increase in concentration difficulties in 1800 MHz (GSM) users vs 900 MHz (GSM) users. Analysis of all cell phone showed those that were also exposed to VDTs also had a significant increase in concentration difficulties. Females cell phone users had more complaints of sleep difficulties than male cell phone users. Digital cell phone users had more complaints than analogue users of discomfort, warmth, and prickling of the ear during normal use. The authors speculate that these effects may be linked to warming of the area behind the ear and inside the head. In a 2003 study, the same data were used to report an association with immediate proximity (10 meters) and nausea.
Findings		Effects
Status		Completed With Publication
Principal Investigator		Lab Physiology & Pharmacodynamics, INSA, France - rsantini@insa.insa-lyon.fr
Funding Agency		Private/Instit.
Country		FRANCE
References		Santini, R et al. Pathol Biol (Paris)., (2003) 51:412-415 Santini, R et al. Electromagn. Biol. Med., (2003) 22:41-49 Santini, R et al. Pathol. Biol., (2002) 50:369-373 Santini, R et al. Electromagn. Biol. Med., (2002) 21:81-88
Comments		Studies by Van Leeuwen (333), Wainwright (539), Wang (723), and Bernardi (763)have convincingly demonstrated that MW hyperthermia in the brain as speculated by Santini cannot occur from the use of a standard cell phone. Regarding the base station studies, the original study questionnaire did not appear to indicate any effort to control for recall bias, and subjects were asked to estimate their own residential proximity to the nearest mobile phone tower (obviously not very dependable). In the 2003 study, field probe measurements were taken at selected areas, but even this is subject to wide variations. There was also no indication of response rate, indicating that the study population may not have been appropriately selected, but may have all volunteered, further biasing the study.