We evaluated the effects of the exposure to radio-frequency radiation emanating from the base transceiver station (BTS) on the characteristics of circadian rest-activity rhythm and behavioral sleep ...variables in humans. We performed this exploratory field study in a sample of 89 healthy subjects randomly chosen out of 1434 individuals surveyed for the purpose. We divided 89 subjects into five groups, including the control, as a function of distance from the BTS. The E-field strength was higher in the groups of the inter-tower region and between 0 and 150 m away from the BTS. The E-field (distance) did not significantly affect the circadian rhythm parameters and behavioral sleep variables, except a marginal delay in the peak timings of the rest-activity rhythm of subjects in the inter-tower and 300-500 m groups. Notable secondary effects of the factor gender were noticed on circadian amplitude, sleep efficiency, dichotomy index, and wake after sleep onset. We concluded that exposure to radiation from the BTS did not modulate actigraphy-based behavioral sleep variables of people residing around BTS installations. We recommend more extensive field-based studies with rigorous longitudinal designs to validate the effects of radiation from the BTS in humans.
Concerns about the veracity of psychological research have been growing. Many findings in psychological science are based on studies with insufficient statistical power and nonrepresentative samples, ...or may otherwise be limited to specific, ungeneralizable settings or populations. Crowdsourced research, a type of large-scale collaboration in which one or more research projects are conducted across multiple lab sites, offers a pragmatic solution to these and other current methodological challenges. The Psychological Science Accelerator (PSA) is a distributed network of laboratories designed to enable and support crowdsourced research projects. These projects can focus on novel research questions or replicate prior research in large, diverse samples. The PSA’s mission is to accelerate the accumulation of reliable and generalizable evidence in psychological science. Here, we describe the background, structure, principles, procedures, benefits, and challenges of the PSA. In contrast to other crowdsourced research networks, the PSA is ongoing (as opposed to time limited), efficient (in that structures and principles are reused for different projects), decentralized, diverse (in both subjects and researchers), and inclusive (of proposals, contributions, and other relevant input from anyone inside or outside the network). The PSA and other approaches to crowdsourced psychological science will advance understanding of mental processes and behaviors by enabling rigorous research and systematic examination of its generalizability.
Occupational exposure to microwave radiation (MWR) has become an inevi-table part of life. Therefore, it is essential to assess the MWR effect on hu-man health. In this study, we examined the ...non-thermal effect of MWR from base transceiver station (BTS) on humans' sleep quality. Total 1150 partici-pants of different zones based on distance from BTS (145 from inter-tower/zone A; 256 from 0-150m/zone B; 241 from 150-300m/zone C, 381 from 300-500m/zone D), and 127 controls from the area without BTS installations were included. We recorded the electric field strength at the subject’s resi-dence using NBM-550 equipped with probe EF0-391. We assessed the sub-jects' sleep quality by administering the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Ques-tionnaire. ANOVA revealed statistically significantly higher electric-field strength in zone B and zone A. Participants of all the groups exhibited a glob-al PSQI score less than the accepted median score of <5. This implies that subjects of all groups had good sleep quality. However, a more detailed anal-ysis using the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests revealed that the participants of exposed zones (except zone D), females, and residents of the 1-5y group had decreased sleep quality compared to control, males, and subjects of >5y group, respectively. From the above findings, it can be con-cluded that the MWR had little effect on the sleep quality, but it does modu-late sleep parameters within the accepted range of good sleep quality as a function of the zone, gender, and year of residence. However, extensive studies involving more BTS are desirable to validate the above conclusion.
Radio-frequency electromagnetic radiations (RF-EMRs) are ubiquitous at present. Therefore, it is essential to assess the impact of RF-EMRs on human health. In this study, we examined the non-thermal ...effects of RF-EMR expo-sure on behavioral sleep patterns in humans. A total of 1072 randomly se-lected individuals living in the proximity of base transceiver stations (BTS) participated in the study. The sample consisted of 122 subjects from zone A (Inter-tower region), 310 from zone B (0-150 m), 316 from zone C (150-300 m), 197 from zone D (300-500 m), and 127 from the control zone (without BTS installations). We classified the zones as a function of distance from the BTS. We measured electric-field strength at each participant’s house using Narda Broadband Field Meter-550 equipped with EF0-391 probe. We used Munich-Chronotype Questionnaire to determine each subject’s behavioral sleep patterns. ANOVA results revealed the highest E-field strength in zone-A than the other zones and control. Results from ANCOVA, Kruskal-Wallis, and Mann-Whitney U tests showed that the participants from zone A had shorter sleep duration, and longer sleep latency and inertia than those living in other zones. Further, a significant effect of co-factors ‘gender’ and ‘year of resi-dence’ was validated on mid-sleep (work and free days). Compared to wom-en and > 5-year residents, men and 1-5-year residents had delayed mid-sleep. We concluded that RF-EMR might alter the behavioral sleep patterns of subjects living in the vicinity of BTS. However, further confirmatory and extensive studies are necessary, involving a large sample living near many more BTS installations.
The electromagnetic fields (EMF) are ubiquitous. The base transceiver station (BTS) and mobile phones (MPs) contribute to the generation of EMF around their locations and are regarded as important ...sources of non-ionizing radiations. The use of mobile phone has increased dramatically in recent years so also the skepticism regarding its effects. In this review, we have made an attempt to scan the key research papers those aimed at elucidating the effects of EMF starting from extreme low frequency (ELF) to radio frequency (RF) through low frequency (LF). We have selected papers that dealt with the effects of radiations emanating from the BTS and MPs on human sleep, circadian rhythm, and cognition. Mostly, we have concentrated on papers published in the last 15 years. We came across conflicting reports. The findings reported in many papers suggest that the exposure to EMF has potentiality to compromise parameters related to sleep quality; in contrast, there are several reports those have given a clean sheet to the EMF exposure. The effects of EMF on circadian rhythms also remain inconclusive. The EMF exposure while did not produce any effect on circadian rhythm of heart rate and blood chemistry, it modulated the rhythms in cortisol and melatonin characterized by a decline in their 24-h circulating levels. The effects of exposure to EMF on cognitive parameters, like performance and memory, are also equivocal. The existing contradictory findings could be attributed to inter-individual variability in tolerance, gender-, and age-dependent differences in response, latitudinal differences in efficacy, variability among employed methodologies and differences in specific absorption rate, frequency of the mobile phone usage, and interaction of EMF with other physiological and environmental factors, among others. The future research should be carried out with added focus on elucidating the modulatory effects of these factors to put an end to the existing controversies on the biological effects of low/RF EMF radiations.
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