Radiofrequency and Extremely Low-Frequency Electromagnetic Field Effects on the Blood-Brain Barrier

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Electromagnetic Biology andMedicine

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Radiofrequency and Extremely Low-FrequencyElectromagnetic Field Effects on the Blood-Brain Barrier

Henrietta Nittby

a

;Gustav Grafström

b

;Jacob L. Eberhardt

b

;Lars Malmgren

c

;Arne Brun

d

;Bertil R. R. Persson

b

; Leif G. Salford

aa

Department of Neurosurgery, The Rausing Laboratory, Lund University, Lund,Sweden

b

Department of Medical Radiation Physics, The Rausing Laboratory, LundUniversity, Lund, Sweden

c

Department of Applied Electronics (LTH), The Rausing Laboratory, LundUniversity, Lund, Sweden

d

Department of Neuropathology, The Rausing Laboratory, Lund University, Lund,SwedenOnline Publication Date:01 June 2008To cite this Article:Nittby, Henrietta,Grafström, Gustav,Eberhardt, Jacob L.,Malmgren, Lars,Brun, Arne,Persson,Bertil R. R. and Salford, Leif G. (2008) 'Radiofrequency and Extremely Low-Frequency Electromagnetic Field Effectson the Blood-Brain Barrier', Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine, 27:2, 103 — 126To link to this article: DOI:10.1080/15368370802061995URL:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15368370802061995PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLEFull terms and conditions of use:http://www.informaworld.com/terms-and-conditions-of-access.pdfThisarticlemaybeusedforresearch,teachingandprivatestudypurposes.Anysubstantialorsystematicreproduction,re-distribution,re-selling,loanorsub-licensing,systematicsupplyordistributioninanyformtoanyoneisexpresslyforbidden.Thepublisherdoesnotgiveanywarrantyexpressorimpliedormakeanyrepresentationthatthecontentswillbecompleteoraccurateoruptodate.Theaccuracyofanyinstructions,formulaeanddrugdosesshouldbeindependentlyverifiedwithprimarysources.Thepublishershallnotbeliableforanyloss,actions,claims,proceedings,demandorcostsordamageswhatsoeverorhowsoevercausedarisingdirectlyorindirectlyinconnectionwithorarising out of the use of this material.

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Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine

, 27: 103–126, 2008Copyright

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Informa Healthcare USA, Inc.ISSN 1536-8378 print/1536-8386 onlineDOI: 10.1080/15368370802061995

Review

Radiofrequency and Extremely Low-FrequencyElectromagnetic Field Effects on the Blood-BrainBarrier

HENRIETTA NITTBY

1

, GUSTAV GRAFSTRO ¨M

2

,JACOB L. EBERHARDT

2

, LARS MALMGREN

3

,ARNE BRUN

4

, BERTIL R. R. PERSSON

2

, ANDLEIF G. SALFORD

1

Department of Neurosurgery, The Rausing Laboratory, LundUniversity, Lund, Sweden

2

Department of Medical Radiation Physics, The Rausing Laboratory,Lund University, Lund, Sweden

3

Department of Applied Electronics (LTH), The Rausing Laboratory,Lund University, Lund, Sweden

4

Department of Neuropathology, The Rausing Laboratory, LundUniversity, Lund, Sweden

During the last century, mankind has introduced electricity and during the very lastdecades, the microwaves of the modern communication society have spread a totallynew entity—the radiofrequency fields—around the world. How does this affectbiology on Earth? The mammalian brain is protected by the blood-brain barrier,which prevents harmful substances from reaching the brain tissue. There is evidencethat exposure to electromagnetic fields at non thermal levels disrupts this barrier.In this review, the scientific findings in this field are presented. The result is acomplex picture, where some studies show effects on the blood-brain barrier,whereas others do not. Possible mechanisms for the interactions between electro-magnetic fields and the living organisms are discussed. Demonstrated effects on theblood-brain barrier, as well as a series of other effects upon biology, have caused societal anxiety. Continued research is needed to come to an understanding of howthese possible effects can be neutralized, or at least reduced. Furthermore, it should be kept in mind that proven effects on biology also should have positive potentials,e.g., for medical use.

Keywords

Albumin; Blood-brain barrier; Mobile phones; MRI.Address correspondence to Henrietta Nittby, Department of Neurosurgery, Lund Uni-versity Hospital, S-221 85 Lund, Sweden; E-mail: Henrietta.Nittby@med.lu.se

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Introduction

During the billions of years that organisms have existed on earth, they have been exposedto, and moulded by, the original physical forces: gravitation, the sun’s rhythmicallychanging radiation, other cosmic irradiation, heat/cold, mechanical forces, and theomnipresent terrestrial static electric and magnetic fields. The existing organisms arecreated to function in harmony with these forces and have done so for 3.5 billion years.This was the truth until the last century when mankind introduced the use of electricity, and the very last decades when the microwaves of modern communica-tions spread around the world. The next step is the cordless society based uponmicrowave penetration in public as well as private surroundings. Today, one third of the world’s population are owners of microwave-producing mobile phones, and evenmore, live in a milieu filled with microwave-emitting equipment such as base stationsand other systems for wireless communication.Is this only for good? Or, might this have effects in biology? Such effects we mustanticipate and evaluate as far as possible, and if needed, reduce or avoid.The questions might seem easily answered; there seems to be little evidence thatthe human organism is definitively damaged. However, during recent years, severalscientific reports have shown significant, but often weak, effects on cells in vitro,experimental animals, and also humans (for reference, see Hyland, 2000).The first studies on possible risks of microwaves for the living organism werereported in the 1970s, e.g., before the advent of mobile phones, when radar andmicrowave ovens posed a possible health problem. Frey et al. (1975) found increases inthe blood-brain barrier permeability of rats to fluorescein after 30min of exposure toboth pulsed and continous waves at 1.2GHz. Similar observations were made byOscar and Hawkins (1977), who demonstrated that at very low energy levels, the fieldsin a restricted exposure window, caused a significant leakage of

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C-mannitol, inulin,and dextran (with the same molecular weight as albumin) from the capillaries into thesurrounding cerebellar brain tissue. These findings, however, were not repeated using

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C-sucrose (Gruenau, 1982). In the following years, much attention was directed toMRI effects upon the blood-brain barrier. It was shown (Shivers et al., 1987; Pratoet al., 1990) that combined exposure to RF, pulsed, and static magnetic fields resultedin a pinocytotic transport of albumin across the blood-brain barrier. In more recentyears, in vitro models have been increasingly applied to investigate the blood-brainbarrier; in one of these, it was shown that EMF at 1.8GHz increases the permeabilityto sucrose through the blood-brain barrier (Schirmacher et al., 2000).Our group has studied the effects of RF electromagnetic fields on the blood-brainbarrier and upon tumor growth in the mammalian brain since 1988. Our studies on theeffects of CW and pulsed modulated microwaves at 915MHz have been revealed to causesignificantly increased leakage of albumin through the blood-brain barrier of exposed ratsas compared to non exposed animals (Persson et al., 1997; Salford et al., 1992, 1993, 1994,2001, 2003). Recently, we have also examined the effects of long term exposure—55weeks—upon brain morphology and cognitive functions (Nittby et al., 2008a). The effectsof GSM RF upon gene expression have been studied (Nittby et al., 2008b) and 3Gexposure studies are under way.

The Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB)

The mammalian brain is protected from exposure to potentially harmful compoundsin the blood by the BBB. This is a hydrophobic barrier formed by the vascular

104 Nittby et al.