The Adverse Effect of Mobile Phone Radiations on Dorsal Root Ganglion of Albino Rats

Objectives: To assess the effect of Mobile Phone Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Radiation (RF-EMR) on the histological structure of dorsal root ganglia in albino rats.

Methods: Twenty-four albino rats divided into one control and three experimental groups were studied for four weeks. The experimental groups were exposed to three different levels of RF-EMR through complete missed calls of 80,120 and160 calls per day respectively, using a GSM mobile phone of 0.9GHz to1.8 GHz in silent mode. The dorsal root ganglia of the sacrificed Rats were examined under light and transmission electron microscope (TEM).

Results: Dorsal root ganglions of exposed rats showed considerable histological changes like reduction in cell size, condensation of cytoplasm, peripherally located heterochromatin nucleus, loss of nucleolus and densely packed myelinated nerve fibers. No such changes were observed in control rats.

Conclusion: Dorsal root ganglionic cells showed enduring and continuous changes when exposed to RF-EMR. The severity of histomorphological changes was dose-dependent, which increased constantly with radiation dosage increment. It might be fair to conclude that degenerative changes in the Dorsal Root Ganglion of the spinal cord, could be attributed to the long-term exposure to RF-EMR.