No effects of short-term GSM mobile phone radiation on cerebral blood flow measured using positron emission tomography.

The present study investigated the effects of 902.4 MHz global system for mobile communications (GSM) mobile phone radiation on cerebral blood flow using positron emission tomography (PET) with the (15) O-water tracer. Fifteen young, healthy, right-handed male subjects were exposed to phone radiation from three different locations (left ear, right ear, forehead) and to sham exposure to test for possible exposure effects on brain regions close to the exposure source. Whole-brain [¹⁵O]H₂O-PET images were acquired 12 times, 3 for each condition, in a counterbalanced order. Subjects were exposed for 5 min in each scan while performing a simple visual vigilance task. Temperature was also measured in the head region (forehead, eyes, cheeks, ear canals) during exposure. The exposure induced a slight temperature rise in the ear canals but did not affect brain hemodynamics and task performance. The results provided no evidence for acute effects of short-term mobile phone radiation on cerebral blood flow.