TY - JOUR
T1 - A review of the ecological effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF)
AU - Cucurachi, S.
AU - Tamis, W. L. M.
AU - Vijver, M. G.
AU - Peijnenburg, Wjgm
AU - Bolte, J. F. B.
AU - de Snoo, G. R.
N1 - ISI Document Delivery No.: 085ME Times Cited: 53 Cited Reference Count: 173 Cucurachi, S. Tamis, W. L. M. Vijver, M. G. Peijnenburg, W. J. G. M. Bolte, J. F. B. de Snoo, G. R. Vijver, Martina/K-7831-2013; de Snoo, geert/M-4315-2013; Cucurachi, Stefano/K-7853-2013; Peijnenburg, Willie J.G.M/E-1120-2014; Peijnenburg, Willie/M-4110-2013 Peijnenburg, Willie J.G.M/0000-0003-2958-9149; Cucurachi, Stefano/0000-0003-1722-8194; Cucurachi, Stefano/0000-0003-2748-655X; Cucurachi, Stefano/0000-0001-9763-2669 National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) of The Netherlands; NWO (The Netherlands)Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO)Netherlands Government [863.08.023] This review has been possible thanks to the funding granted by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) of The Netherlands. The authors report no conflict of interest The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper. Martina G. Vijver is supported via the VENI-grant 863.08.023 given by the NWO (The Netherlands). 55 0 97 Pergamon-elsevier science ltd Oxford 1873-6750
<Go to ISI>://WOS:000314618100013
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - Objective: This article presents a systematic review of published scientific studies on the potential ecological effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) in the range of 10 MHz to 3.6 GHz (from amplitude modulation, AM, to lower band microwave, MW, EMF). Methods: Publications in English were searched in ISI Web of Knowledge and Scholar Google with no restriction on publication date. Five species groups were identified: birds, insects, other vertebrates, other organisms, and plants. Not only clear ecological articles, such as field studies, were taken into consideration, but also biological articles on laboratory studies investigating the effects of RF-EMF with biological endpoints such as fertility, reproduction, behaviour and development, which have a clear ecological significance, were also included. Results: Information was collected from 113 studies from original peer-reviewed publications or from relevant existing reviews. A limited amount of ecological field studies was identified. The majority of the studies were conducted in a laboratory setting on birds (embryos or eggs), small rodents and plants. In 65% of the studies, ecological effects of RF-EMF (50% of the animal studies and about 75% of the plant studies) were found both at high as well as at low dosages. No clear dose-effect relationship could be discerned. Studies finding an effect applied higher durations of exposure and focused more on the GSM frequency ranges. Conclusions: In about two third of the reviewed studies ecological effects of RF-EMF was reported at high as well as at low dosages. The very low dosages are compatible with real field situations, and could be found under environmental conditions. However, a lack of standardisation and a limited number of observations limit the possibility of generalising results from an organism to an ecosystem level. We propose in future studies to conduct more repetitions of observations and explicitly use the available standards for reporting RF-EMF relevant physical parameters in both laboratory and field studies. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
AB - Objective: This article presents a systematic review of published scientific studies on the potential ecological effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) in the range of 10 MHz to 3.6 GHz (from amplitude modulation, AM, to lower band microwave, MW, EMF). Methods: Publications in English were searched in ISI Web of Knowledge and Scholar Google with no restriction on publication date. Five species groups were identified: birds, insects, other vertebrates, other organisms, and plants. Not only clear ecological articles, such as field studies, were taken into consideration, but also biological articles on laboratory studies investigating the effects of RF-EMF with biological endpoints such as fertility, reproduction, behaviour and development, which have a clear ecological significance, were also included. Results: Information was collected from 113 studies from original peer-reviewed publications or from relevant existing reviews. A limited amount of ecological field studies was identified. The majority of the studies were conducted in a laboratory setting on birds (embryos or eggs), small rodents and plants. In 65% of the studies, ecological effects of RF-EMF (50% of the animal studies and about 75% of the plant studies) were found both at high as well as at low dosages. No clear dose-effect relationship could be discerned. Studies finding an effect applied higher durations of exposure and focused more on the GSM frequency ranges. Conclusions: In about two third of the reviewed studies ecological effects of RF-EMF was reported at high as well as at low dosages. The very low dosages are compatible with real field situations, and could be found under environmental conditions. However, a lack of standardisation and a limited number of observations limit the possibility of generalising results from an organism to an ecosystem level. We propose in future studies to conduct more repetitions of observations and explicitly use the available standards for reporting RF-EMF relevant physical parameters in both laboratory and field studies. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
KW - Radiofrequencies EMF Biodiversity Electromagnetic field exposure Ecological effect Mobile telecommunication mobile phone radiation radio location station arm maze performance irradiation 2.45 ghz elf magnetic-fields whole-body exposure long-term exposure
U2 - 10.1016/j.envint.2012.10.009
DO - 10.1016/j.envint.2012.10.009
M3 - Article
SN - 0160-4120
VL - 51
SP - 116
EP - 140
JO - Environment International
JF - Environment International
ER -