Estimated whole-brain and lobe-specific radiofrequency electromagnetic fields doses and brain volumes in preadolescents

Alba Cabré-Riera; Hanan El Marroun; Ryan Muetzel; Luuk van Wel; Ilaria Liorni; Arno Thielens; Laura Ellen Birks; Livia Pierotti; Anke Huss; Wout Joseph; Joe Wiart; Myles Capstick; Manon Hillegers; Roel Vermeulen; Elisabeth Cardis; Martine Vrijheid; Tonya White; Martin Röösli; Henning Tiemeier; Mònica Guxens

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2020.105808

Estimated whole-brain and lobe-specific radiofrequency electromagnetic fields doses and brain volumes in preadolescents

Environ Int. 2020 Sep:142:105808. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.105808. Epub 2020 Jun 15.

Authors

Alba Cabré-Riera¹, Hanan El Marroun², Ryan Muetzel³, Luuk van Wel⁴, Ilaria Liorni⁵, Arno Thielens⁶, Laura Ellen Birks⁷, Livia Pierotti⁸, Anke Huss⁴, Wout Joseph⁶, Joe Wiart⁹, Myles Capstick⁵, Manon Hillegers¹⁰, Roel Vermeulen¹¹, Elisabeth Cardis⁷, Martine Vrijheid⁷, Tonya White¹², Martin Röösli¹³, Henning Tiemeier¹⁴, Mònica Guxens¹⁵

Affiliations

¹ ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain; Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; Spanish Consortium for Research and Public Health (CIBERESP), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Erasmus MC, the Netherlands.
² Department of Psychology, Education and Child Studies, Erasmus School of Social and Behavioral Sciences - Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Pediatrics, Erasmus University Medical Centre-Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Erasmus MC, the Netherlands.
³ Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Erasmus MC, the Netherlands; The Generation R Study Group, Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
⁴ Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
⁵ IT'IS Foundation, Zurich, Switzerland.
⁶ Department of Information Technology, Ghent University/IMEC, Ghent, Belgium.
⁷ ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain; Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; Spanish Consortium for Research and Public Health (CIBERESP), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
⁸ ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain.
⁹ LTCI, Telecom Paris, Chaire C2M, France.
¹⁰ Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Erasmus MC, the Netherlands.
¹¹ Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands; School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK.
¹² Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Erasmus MC, the Netherlands; Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Kinder Neuroimaging Centrum Rotterdam (KNICR), Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
¹³ Departement of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel 4051, Switzerland; University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
¹⁴ Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Erasmus MC, the Netherlands; The Generation R Study Group, Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Social and Behavioral Science, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
¹⁵ ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain; Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; Spanish Consortium for Research and Public Health (CIBERESP), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Erasmus MC, the Netherlands. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 32554140
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.105808

Abstract

Objective: To assess the association between estimated whole-brain and lobe-specific radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) doses, using an improved integrated RF-EMF exposure model, and brain volumes in preadolescents at 9-12 years old.

Methods: Cross-sectional analysis in preadolescents aged 9-12 years from the Generation R Study, a population-based birth cohort set up in Rotterdam, The Netherlands (n = 2592). An integrated exposure model was used to estimate whole-brain and lobe-specific RF-EMF doses (mJ/kg/day) from different RF-EMF sources including mobile and Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) phone calls, other mobile phone uses than calling, tablet use, laptop use, and far-field sources. Whole-brain and lobe-specific RF-EMF doses were estimated for all RF-EMF sources together (i.e. overall) and for three groups of RF-EMF sources that lead to a different pattern of RF-EMF exposure. Information on brain volumes was extracted from magnetic resonance imaging scans.

Results: Estimated overall whole-brain RF-EMF dose was 84.3 mJ/kg/day. The highest overall lobe-specific dose was estimated in the temporal lobe (307.1 mJ/kg/day). Whole-brain and lobe-specific RF-EMF doses from all RF-EMF sources together, from mobile and DECT phone calls, and from far-field sources were not associated with global, cortical, or subcortical brain volumes. However, a higher whole-brain RF-EMF dose from mobile phone use for internet browsing, e-mailing, and text messaging, tablet use, and laptop use while wirelessly connected to the internet was associated with a smaller caudate volume.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that estimated whole-brain and lobe-specific RF-EMF doses were not related to brain volumes in preadolescents at 9-12 years old. Screen activities with mobile communication devices while wirelessly connected to the internet lead to low RF-EMF dose to the brain and our observed association may thus rather reflect effects of social or individual factors related to these specific uses of mobile communication devices. However, we cannot discard residual confounding, chance finding, or reverse causality. Further studies on mobile communication devices and their potential negative associations with brain development are warranted, regardless whether associations are due to RF-EMF exposure or to other factors related to their use.

Keywords: Brain; Cell phone use; Child development; Electromagnetic fields; Neuroimaging; Radio waves; Telecommunications; Telephone; Wireless technology.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Brain
Cell Phone*
Child
Cross-Sectional Studies
Electromagnetic Fields*
Environmental Exposure
Humans
Netherlands
Radio Waves