Assessment of genotoxicity and genomic instability in rat primary astrocytes exposed to 872 MHz radiofrequency radiation and chemicals.

PURPOSE

We examined genotoxicity, co-genotoxicity and induced genomic instability (IGI) in primary astrocytes exposed to radiofrequency (RF) radiation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Rat primary astrocytes were exposed to 872 MHz GSM-modulated or continuous wave (CW) RF radiation at specific absorption rates of 0.6 or 6.0 W/kg for 24 h. Menadione (MQ) and methyl methanesulfonate (MMS; only in genotoxicity experiments) were used as co-exposures. Alkaline Comet assay and flow cytometric micronucleus scoring were used to detect genetic damage.

RESULTS

No IGI was observed from RF radiation alone or combined treatment with MQ. RF radiation alone was not genotoxic. RF radiation combined with chemical exposure showed some statistically significant differences: increased DNA damage at 6.0 W/kg but decreased DNA damage at 0.6 W/kg in cells exposed to GSM-modulated RF radiation and MQ, and increased micronucleus frequency in cells exposed to CW RF radiation at 0.6 W/kg and MMS.

CONCLUSIONS

Exposure to GSM modulated RF radiation at levels up to 6.0 W/kg did not induce or enhance genomic instability in rat primary astrocytes. Lack of genotoxicity from RF radiation alone was convincingly shown in multiple experiments. Co-genotoxicity of RF radiation and genotoxic chemicals was not consistently supported by the results.