Effects of mobile phone exposure on time frequency fine structure of transiently evoked otoacoustic emissions.

Mobile phones have become very commonly used worldwide within a short period of time. To date there is only limited knowledge about interaction between electromagnetic fields (EMFs) emitted by mobile phones and the auditory function. Moreover, there is widespread concern that there may be potential for harm. The aim of this study was to assess potential subtle changes in cochlear function by measuring the temporal and spectral fine structure of transiently evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE) in normal hearing subjects after exposure to EMFs emitted by Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) mobile phones. TEOAEs were recorded in 27 healthy young adults before and after 10 min of real or sham exposure in a double-blind design. TEOAE data were analyzed both globally (broadband analysis) and using the Wavelet Transform (analysis of the time-frequency fine structure). The broadband analysis revealed no significant effect on TEOAEs related to exposure, confirming results of previous studies; in addition, no significant change was detected in the analysis of the elementary wavelet components, suggesting that the temporal and spectral fine structure of TEOAEs is not affected by 10 min exposure to low-intensity EMFs emitted by GSM mobile phones.

[1]  Gabriella Tognola,et al.  Possible Combined Effects of 900 MHZ Continuous-Wave Electromagnetic Fields and Gentamicin on the Auditory System of Rats , 2007, Radiation research.

[2]  Matti Laine,et al.  Effects of a 902 MHz mobile phone on cerebral blood flow in humans: a PET study , 2003, Neuroreport.

[3]  T. Janssen,et al.  Investigation of potential effects of cellular phones on human auditory function by means of distortion product otoacoustic emissions. , 2005, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[4]  P. Dallos.  The active cochlea , 1992, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[5]  Giorgio Alfonso Lovisolo,et al.  Effects of 900 MHz electromagnetic fields exposure on cochlear cells' functionality in rats: Evaluation of distortion product otoacoustic emissions , 2005, Bioelectromagnetics.

[6]  Gabriella Tognola,et al.  Electromagnetic Fields from Mobile Phones do not Affect the Inner Auditory System of Sprague-Dawley Rats , 2005, Radiation research.

[7]  R Probst,et al.  A review of otoacoustic emissions. , 1991, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[8]  Kuansan Wang,et al.  Auditory representations of acoustic signals , 1992, IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory.

[9]  G. Tognola,et al.  Wavelet analysis of click-evoked otoacoustic emissions , 1998, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[10]  A. Kizilay,et al.  Effects of chronic exposure of electromagnetic fields from mobile phones on hearing in rats. , 2003, Auris, nasus, larynx.

[11]  B L Lonsbury-Martin,et al.  The Clinical Utility of Distortion‐Product Otoacoustic Emissions , 1990, Ear and hearing.

[12]  Li-Ping Yang,et al.  Combination of derived non-linear and linear methods to increase the reproducibility of transiently evoked otoacoustic emissions: Combinacion de metodos derivados, lineales y no lineales, para incrementar la reproducibilidad de las emisiones otoacusticas evocadas por transientes , 2003, International journal of audiology.

[14]  L. Sornmo,et al.  Multiscale detection of transiently evoked otoacoustic emissions , 2004, Proceedings of the 6th Nordic Signal Processing Symposium, 2004. NORSIG 2004..

[15]  M. Parazzini,et al.  Influence on the mechanisms of generation of distortion product otoacoustic emissions of mobile phone exposure , 2005, Hearing Research.

[16]  N. Kuster,et al.  Appropriate modeling of the ear for compliance testing of handheld MTE with SAR safety limits at 900/1800 MHz , 2000 .

[17]  Jing Zheng,et al.  Prestin is the motor protein of cochlear outer hair cells , 2000, Nature.

[18]  P. Ravazzani,et al.  Frequency and temporal analysis of contralateral acoustic stimulation on evoked otoacoustic emissions in humans , 2000, Hearing Research.

[19]  Stéphane Mallat,et al.  A Theory for Multiresolution Signal Decomposition: The Wavelet Representation , 1989, IEEE Trans. Pattern Anal. Mach. Intell..

[20]  A. O'brien.  Temperature dependency of the frequency and level of a spontaneous otoacoustic emission during fever. , 1994, British journal of audiology.

[21]  Paul Avan,et al.  Wavelet analysis of real ear and synthesized click evoked otoacoustic emissions , 1994, Hearing Research.

[22]  Orhan Ozturan,et al.  Effects of the Electromagnetic Field of Mobile Telephones on Hearing , 2002, Acta oto-laryngologica.

[23]  Gabriella Tognola,et al.  Time-frequency distributions of click-evoked otoacoustic emissions , 1997, Hearing Research.

[24]  M. Parazzini,et al.  Effect of aspirin on phase gradient of 2F1–F2 distortion product otoacoustic emissions , 2005, Hearing Research.

[25]  A. H. Frey,et al.  Headaches from cellular telephones: are they real and what are the implications? , 1998, Environmental health perspectives.

[26]  K. Fritze,et al.  Effect of global system for mobile communication (GSM) microwave exposure on blood-brain barrier permeability in rat , 1997, Acta Neuropathologica.

[27]  V. Uloza,et al.  Assessment of potential effects of the electromagnetic fields of mobile phones on hearing , 2005, BMC public health.

[28]  Craig C. Bader,et al.  Evoked mechanical responses of isolated cochlear outer hair cells. , 1985, Science.

[29]  D. McFadden,et al.  Aspirin abolishes spontaneous oto-acoustic emissions. , 1984, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[30]  G Thuróczy,et al.  Effects of mobile GSM radiotelephone exposure on the auditory brainstem response (ABR). , 1999, Neurobiology.

[31]  Yoshikazu Ugawa,et al.  Thirty minutes mobile phone use has no short-term adverse effects on central auditory pathways , 2003, Clinical Neurophysiology.

[32]  R. Bobbin,et al.  Chronic low-level noise exposure alters distortion product otoacoustic emissions , 1996, Hearing Research.

[33]  T. Janssen,et al.  Tinnitus and 2f1-f2 distortion product otoacoustic emissions following salicylate overdose. , 2000, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[34]  Peter Achermann,et al.  Pulsed high-frequency electromagnetic field affects human sleep and sleep electroencephalogram , 1999, Neuroscience Letters.

[35]  G. A. Lovisolo,et al.  Effects of microwaves (900 MHz) on the cochlear receptor: exposure systems and preliminary results , 2000, Radiation and environmental biophysics.

[36]  Gabriella Tognola,et al.  Otoacoustic emission latency, cochlear tuning, and hearing functionality in neonates. , 2005, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[37]  J Cheng,et al.  Time-frequency analysis of transient evoked otoacoustic emissions via smoothed pseudo Wigner distribution. , 1995, Scandinavian audiology.

[38]  D. T. Kemp,et al.  Evidence of mechanical nonlinearity and frequency selective wave amplification in the cochlea , 2004, Archives of oto-rhino-laryngology.

[39]  Con Stough,et al.  Examining the effects of electromagnetic fields emitted by GSM mobile phones on human event-related potentials and performance during an auditory task , 2004, Clinical Neurophysiology.

[40]  Piotr J Durka,et al.  Identification of otoacoustic emissions components by means of adaptive approximations. , 2004, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[41]  A W Preece,et al.  Effect of a 915-MHz simulated mobile phone signal on cognitive function in man. , 1999, International journal of radiation biology.

[42]  T. Janssen,et al.  The level and growth behavior of the 2 f1-f2 distortion product otoacoustic emission and its relationship to auditory sensitivity in normal hearing and cochlear hearing loss. , 1998, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.