Impact of radio frequency electromagnetic radiation on DNA integrity in the male germline

Summary Concern has arisen over human exposures to radio frequency electromagnetic radiation (RFEMR), including a recent report indicating that regular mobile phone use can negatively impact upon human semen quality. These effects would be particularly serious if the biological effects of RFEMR incl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of andrology 2005-06, Vol.28 (3), p.171-179
Main Authors: AITKEN, R. J., BENNETTS, L. E., SAWYER, D., WIKLENDT, A. M., KING, B. V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Biological effects of radiation
DNA - radiation effects
DNA Damage
Electromagnetic Fields
Epididymis - radiation effects
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
germline mutation
Male
male germline
Mice
Mice, Inbred Strains
Models, Animal
Non ionizing radiations. Hertzian waves. Biooptics
quantitative PCR
radio frequency electromagnetic radiation
Radio Waves
Semen - radiation effects
Spermatozoa - radiation effects
Tissues, organs and organisms biophysics
whole-animal irradiation
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Summary:Summary Concern has arisen over human exposures to radio frequency electromagnetic radiation (RFEMR), including a recent report indicating that regular mobile phone use can negatively impact upon human semen quality. These effects would be particularly serious if the biological effects of RFEMR included the induction of DNA damage in male germ cells. In this study, mice were exposed to 900 MHz RFEMR at a specific absorption rate of approximately 90 mW/kg inside a waveguide for 7 days at 12 h per day. Following exposure, DNA damage to caudal epididymal spermatozoa was assessed by quantitative PCR (QPCR) as well as alkaline and pulsed‐field gel electrophoresis. The treated mice were overtly normal and all assessment criteria, including sperm number, morphology and vitality were not significantly affected. Gel electrophoresis revealed no gross evidence of increased single‐ or double‐DNA strand breakage in spermatozoa taken from treated animals. However, a detailed analysis of DNA integrity using QPCR revealed statistically significant damage to both the mitochondrial genome (p 
ISSN:0105-6263
1365-2605
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2605.2005.00531.x