Trial reportInternational journal of environmental research and public health2019
Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Field Exposure and the Resting EEG: Exploring the Thermal Mechanism Hypothesis.
Trial report in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The effect of mobile phone electromagnetic fields on the human resting state wake EEG and event-related potential: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Bioelectromagnetics · 2025Pooled it
- Looking for Biomarkers Which May Explain Idiopathic Environmental Intolerance Attributed to Electromagnetic Fields (IEI-EMF): Does RF-EMF Exposure Influence Salivary Cortisol Response?Bioelectromagnetics · 2025Trial
- What is the effect of alarmist media and radiofrequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) exposure on salivary cortisol and non-specific symptoms?Applied psychology. Health and well-being · 2025Trial
- Autonomous nervous system responses to environmental-level exposure to 5G's first deployed band (3.5 GHz) in healthy human volunteers.Experimental physiology · 2024Trial
- Does radiofrequency radiation impact sleep? A double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled, crossover pilot study.Frontiers in public health · 2024Trial
- Assessment of Electrical Brain Activity of Healthy Volunteers Exposed to 3.5 GHz of 5G Signals within Environmental Levels: A Controlled-Randomised Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Trial
- No thermal skin effects at environmental 26 GHz field strengths relevant to 5G deployment.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Correction: Loughran et al. Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Field Exposure and the Resting EEG: Exploring the Thermal Mechanism Hypothesis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Increasing Numbers of Persons with Sleeping Problems in Sweden.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Correlation Between Electroencephalogram Brain-to-Brain Synchronization and Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety Scores During Online Hexad Virtual Simulation-Based Interprofessional Education: Cross-Sectional Correlational Study.JMIR medical education · 2025Article
- Effects of Mobile Electromagnetic Exposure on Brain Oscillations and Cortical Excitability: Scoping Review.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- 5G Radiofrequency Exposure ReducesInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Modulation of magnetoencephalography alpha band activity by radiofrequency electromagnetic field depicted in sensor and source space.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- The effect of exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields on cognitive performance in human experimental studies: A protocol for a systematic review.Environment international · 2021Article
- Special Issue: "Electric, Magnetic, and Electromagnetic Fields in Biology and Medicine: From Mechanisms to Biomedical Applications".International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
There is now strong evidence that radiofrequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) exposure influences the human electroencephalogram (EEG). While effects on the alpha band of the resting EEG have been repeatedly shown, the mechanisms underlying that effect have not been established. The current study used well-controlled methods to assess the RF-EMF exposure effect on the EEG and determine whether that effect might be thermally mediated. Thirty-six healthy adults participated in a randomized, double-blind, counterbalanced provocation study. A water-perfusion suit (34 C) was worn throughout the study to negate environmental influences and stabilize skin temperature. Participants attended the laboratory on four occasions, the first being a calibration session and the three subsequent ones being exposure sessions. During each exposure session, EEG and skin temperature (8 sites) were recorded continuously during a baseline phase, and then during a 30 min exposure to a 920 MHz GSM-like signal (Sham, Low RF-EMF (1 W/kg) and High RF-EMF (2 W/kg)). Alpha EEG activity did not change during either of the exposure conditions compared to the Sham condition. As a measure of thermoregulatory activation, finger temperature was found to be higher during both exposure conditions compared to the Sham condition, indicating for the first time that RF-EMF exposure studies cause thermoregulatory changes. This supports the feasibility of the hypothesis that RF-EMF effects on alpha EEG activity are mediated via a thermal mechanism.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.