Version 1
: Received: 3 August 2018 / Approved: 3 August 2018 / Online: 3 August 2018 (15:50:47 CEST)
Version 2
: Received: 20 August 2018 / Approved: 20 August 2018 / Online: 20 August 2018 (15:01:09 CEST)
Vecsei, Z.; Thuróczy, G.; Hernádi, I. The Effect of a Single 30-Min Long Term Evolution Mobile Phone-Like Exposure on Thermal Pain Threshold of Young Healthy Volunteers. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2018, 15, 1849.
Vecsei, Z.; Thuróczy, G.; Hernádi, I. The Effect of a Single 30-Min Long Term Evolution Mobile Phone-Like Exposure on Thermal Pain Threshold of Young Healthy Volunteers. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15, 1849.
Vecsei, Z.; Thuróczy, G.; Hernádi, I. The Effect of a Single 30-Min Long Term Evolution Mobile Phone-Like Exposure on Thermal Pain Threshold of Young Healthy Volunteers. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2018, 15, 1849.
Vecsei, Z.; Thuróczy, G.; Hernádi, I. The Effect of a Single 30-Min Long Term Evolution Mobile Phone-Like Exposure on Thermal Pain Threshold of Young Healthy Volunteers. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15, 1849.
Abstract
Although the majority of mobile phone (MP) users do not attribute adverse effects on health or well-being to MP-emitted radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic fields (EMFs), the exponential increase in the number of RF devices necessitates continuing research aimed at the objective investigation of such concerns. In this work, we investigate the effects of acute exposure from Long Term Evolution (LTE) MP EMFs on thermal pain threshold in healthy young adults. We use a protocol that was validated in a previous study in a capsaicin-induced hyperalgesia model, and was also successfully used to show that exposure from an RF source mimicking a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) MP led to mildly stronger desensitization to repeated noxious thermal stimulation relative to the sham condition. Using the same experimental design, we did not find any effects of LTE exposure on thermal pain threshold. The present results are in accordance with previous evidence suggesting that effects are likely to be placebo/nocebo effects and are unrelated to the brief acute LTE EMF exposure itself. The fact that this is dissimilar to our previous results on UMTS exposure implies that RF modulations might differentially affect pain perception, and points to the necessity of further research in the topic.
Keywords
Long Term Evolution, LTE; 4G; mobile phone; nociception; pain; thermal pain threshold
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Anatomy and Physiology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.