Nerve Conduction Velocity and Mobile Phones

Abstract

In Australia there have been a small number of reports associating the use of analog (AMPS) and digital (GSM) mobile phone handsets with various neurological complaints. The symptomatic data collected so far has been subjective and quite diverse ranging from various forms of headaches to descriptions of unpleasant tingling and burning sensations on the skin. This makes it difficult to define this phenomenon as a discrete syndrome and assign a probable aetiology. Possible causes suggested so far include: ultra-sonic noise from the earpiece, chemical outgassing from warm handsets and psychosomatic association. In this pilot study we considered two other possibilities, facial warming due to heat conducted from a warm handset and radiofrequency (RF) energy absorption in the head from antenna emissions. Our aim was to obtain objective neurophysiological data in humans during handset use or during exposure to amplified mobile phone emissions. In three separate experiments we measured nerve conduction velocity (NCV) in the ulnar nerve of the forearm, facial nerve latencies (FNL) and the blink reflex (BR) but found no statistically significant outcomes. The measurement of BR latencies is recommended as the most useful method in testing for neurological symptoms associated with mobile handset use.