Does acute radio-frequency electromagnetic field exposure affect visual event-related potentials in healthy adults?

Highlights

• Thermal inputs to the skin were clamped for the first time to assess the impact of radio-frequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) on event-related potentials (ERPs).

• No effects of exposure were seen on P2, N2 or P3 ERP amplitudes or latencies.

• Lack of ERP effects corresponds with the lack of strong evidence for RF-EMF effects on cognition.

Abstract

Objective

To use improved methods to address the question of whether acute exposure to radio-frequency (RF) electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) affects early (80–200 ms) sensory and later (180–600 ms) cognitive processes as indexed by event-related potentials (ERPs).

Methods

Thirty-six healthy subjects completed a visual discrimination task during concurrent exposure to a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)-like, 920 MHz signal with peak-spatial specific absorption rate for 10 g of tissue of 0 W/kg of body mass (Sham), 1 W/kg (Low RF) and 2 W/kg (High RF). A fully randomised, counterbalanced, double-blind design was used.

Results

P1 amplitude was reduced (p = .02) and anterior N1 latency was increased (p = .04) during Exposure compared to Sham. There were no effects on any other ERP latencies or amplitudes.

Conclusions

RF-EMF exposure may affect early perceptual (P1) and preparatory motor (anterior N1) processes. However, only two ERP indices, out of 56 comparisons, were observed to differ between RF-EMF exposure and Sham, suggesting that these observations may be due to chance.

Significance

These observations are consistent with previous findings that RF-EMF exposure has no reliable impact on cognition (e.g., accuracy and response speed).