Abstract

BackgroundMobile phones have become indispensable as communication tools; however, to date there is only a limited knowledge about interaction between electromagnetic fields (EMF) emitted by mobile phones and auditory function. The aim of the study was to assess potential changes in hearing function as a consequence of exposure to low-intensity EMF's produced by mobile phones at frequencies of 900 and 1800 MHz.MethodsThe within-subject study was performed on thirty volunteers (age 18–30 years) with normal hearing to assess possible acute effect of EMF. Participants attended two sessions: genuine and sham exposure of EMF. Hearing threshold levels (HTL) on pure tone audiometry (PTA) and transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE's) were recorded before and immediately after 10 min of genuine and/or sham exposure of mobile phone EMF. The administration of genuine or sham exposure was double blind and counterbalanced in order.ResultsStatistical analysis revealed no significant differences in the mean HTLs of PTA and mean shifts of TEOAE's before and after genuine and/or sham mobile phone EMF 10 min exposure. The data collected showed that average TEOAE levels (averaged across a frequency range) changed less than 2.5 dB between pre- and post-, genuine and sham exposure. The greatest individual change was 10 dB, with a decrease in level from pre- to post- real exposure.ConclusionIt could be concluded that a 10-min close exposure of EMFs emitted from a mobile phone had no immediate after-effect on measurements of HTL of PTA and TEOAEs in young human subjects and no measurable hearing deterioration was detected in our study.

Highlights

  • Mobile phones have become indispensable as communication tools; to date there is only a limited knowledge about interaction between electromagnetic fields (EMF) emitted by mobile phones and auditory function

  • The aim of the present study was to assess the acute potential changes in human hearing function as a consequence of exposure to low-intensity EMF's produced by mobile phones at frequencies of 900 and 1800 MHz and a shamexposure under double-blind conditions as determined by changes in transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) and hearing threshold levels (HTL) in pure tone audiometry (PTA)

  • The mean amplitude shifts of the TEOAE measurements of pre/post genuine and pre/post sham Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) exposure are presented in Fig. 4 for 900 MHz exposure, in Fig. 5 for 1800 MHz exposure and in Fig. 6 for the total group, respectively

Read more

Summary

Introduction

Mobile phones have become indispensable as communication tools; to date there is only a limited knowledge about interaction between electromagnetic fields (EMF) emitted by mobile phones and auditory function. The hearing system and the cochlear outer hair cells (OHC) are known to be highly sensitive to a great variety of exogenous and endogenous agents and externally applied electric and magnetic fields are known to be able to produce some hearing sensation [12]. Despite all these considerations and evidence, only recently, some studies have analyzed the effects of mobile phones on the auditory system [13,14].

Objectives
Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call