Pulsed high-frequency electromagnetic field affects human sleep and sleep electroencephalogram

To investigate whether the electromagnetic field (EMF) emitted by digital r adiotelephone handsets affects the brain, healthy, young subjects were expo sed during an entire night-time sleep episode to an intermittent radiation schedule (900 MHz; maximum specific absorption rate 1 W/kg) consisting of a lternating 15-min on-15-min off intervals. Compared with a control night wi th sham exposure, the amount of waking after sleep onset was reduced from 1 8 to 12 min. Spectral power of the electroencephalogram in non-rapid eye mo vement sleep was increased. The maximum rise occurred in the 10-11 Hz and 1 3.5-14 Hz bands during the initial part of sleep and then subsided. The res ults demonstrate that pulsed high-frequency EMF in the range of radioteleph ones may promote sleep and modify the sleep EEG. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.