Mobile phone and auditory system: update

The aim of this study is to asses the non-thermal effects of the electromagnetic fields generated by 915 MHz GSM cellular phones on the human cochlear activity using transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE). The study was carried on 205 young and healthy volunteers (age 18-30 years) with normal hearing which were randomly divided into two samples consisting of 85 (Gcase) and 120 (Gcontrol) respectively. The first one was exposed to genuine 10 minutes of GSM electromagnetic fields while the second, undergone sham exposure, was considered as control group for the statistical investigations. All the participants were blind to the genuine or sham exposure. The TEOAEs were measured in the time domain and the Welch’s method was used for analysis. Statistical analysis revealed no significant differences in the mean TEOAEs amplitude shifts before and throughout genuine and/or sham mobile phone EMF 10 min exposure. Therefore the external hair cells activity is not modified by an average individual usually GSM cellular phones speak