The effect of mobile phone electromagnetic fields on the human resting state wake EEG and event-related potential: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The rapid growth of mobile phone usage and its use of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) have raised concerns about potential health risks. Researchers have conducted studies to examine the effects of RF-EMF on the brain using electroencephalography (EEG). We conducted a systematic quality assessment and meta-analysis of published research in this field to establish high-quality studies as references for future protocols. The electronic search yielded 244 records from which a total of 51 studies were included in the review after excluding studies based on study design, and data or report availability. Of these 51 studies, 31 (61%) focused on resting state wake EEG and 20 (39%) on event-related potentials (ERP). None of the 51 studies were free from risk of bias. From the 51 included studies, we were able to use seven studies to create three different groups for meta-analysis for resting state wake EEG and five studies to create 10 different groups for meta-analysis for ERP. Per group the number of studies varies from 1 to 5. Our procedure is the first systematic quality assessment in this field and revealed three important findings. First, there is evidence of an effect on the EEG of a 2G protocol using an eyes-open condition. Second, we did not find evidence for EEG effects during task performance. This suggests that the impact of EMF during task performance is less pronounced compared to the resting state condition. Third, this meta-analysis shows that the field is unable to create an evidence base for most comparisons due to heterogeneity. We therefore advise that all future studies are double-blind in nature, adhere to the methodological standard of randomized experiments, and publish their protocols first.