Short–Term Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields Generated by Mobile Phone Jammers Decreases the Fasting Blood Sugar in Adult Male Rats

Abstract

Background: Substantial evidence indicates that exposure to electromagneticfields (EMF) above certain levels can affect human health through triggering somebiological responses. According to WHO, short-term exposure to EMF at the levelspresent in the home/environment do not cause any apparent detrimental effects inhealthy individuals. However, now, there is a debate on whether long-term exposureto low level EMF can evoke detrimental biological responses. Although based on theCommunications Act of 1934, selling, advertising, using, or importing mobile jammers which block cell phone calls and text messages are illegal acts, in somecountriesthese devices are being used for security purpose and for prevention of cheating during examinations.Methods:  In this study 30 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 3 groups of 10 each. The control group received no radiation. The sham exposure group was exposed to a switched-off jammer device. After fasting for 12 hours, the exposure group was exposed to EMFs at a distance of 50 cm from the jammer. Blood samples were collected from the tail vein after 24, 48 and72 hours and fasting blood sugar was measured by using a common blood glucose monitor (BIONIME GM110, Taiwan). The significance level was considered 5% and SPSS Ver. 21 was used for statistical analysis. The data were analyzed by ANOVA followed by Tukey’s test.Results:  A statistically significant difference was observed between blood sugar level in the control and exposure groups after 24, 48 and 72 hours of continuous irradiation (p values were