Interessante lavoro di ricercatori delle università di Verona e di
Mantova che hanno riscontrato un significativo decremento della funzionalità
dei Neutrofili (che sono un tipo di globuli bianchi) dopo il trattamento di 30'
di radiazioni - proveniente da uno smartphone - di un campione di sangue
di una persona sana.
Il compito dei Neutrofili, come di tutti i Leucocici, è quello di difenderci da
batteri e virus. I neutrofili hanno una vita breve durante la quale sono in
grado di eliminare un numero limitato di batteri che può arrivare fino a 20
ciascuno. I Nutrofili si comportano come macrofagi e cioè inglobano le cellule
“nemiche” e le distruggono grazie a particolari enzimi che sono in grado di
produrre.
Un calo di questi 'soldati' significa ridurre la difesa immunitaria.
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Thirty-minutes' exposure to smartphone call triggers
neutrophil activation in vitro.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Despite accumulating evidence about the negative
health effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields emitted by mobile phones,
no information is available on the potential impact of radiofrequency (RF)
waves on polymorphonuclear leukocytes biology.
METHODS:
Two sequential whole blood tubes were collected from
16 ostensibly healthy volunteers. After placing the former tube of each subject
in a plastic rack, 1 cm from a commercial smartphone (carrier frequency, 900
MHz), a call was placed on the smartphone and a communication lasting 30 min
was manually activated. The latter blood tube of each volunteer was placed in
another plastic rack, for an identical period of time, avoiding close contact
with sources of RF waves. A complete blood count was then assessed in all whole
blood samples, using Advia 2120.
RESULTS:
The 30-min exposure of blood to RF waves did not
induce significant variations of total and differential leukocyte counts. A
significant decrease was however observed for many neutrophils parameters, with
median percentage variation of -3.9% for the lobularity index (LI), -29.8% for
the myeloperoxidase index (MPXI), -0.6% for the neutrophil cluster mean x
(NEUTx) and -0.7% for the neutrophil cluster mean y (NEUTy), respectively. The
percentage of blood samples with reduced values after exposure to RF waves was
81% for LI, 88% for NEUTx and 100% for both MPXI and NEUTy.
CONCLUSIONS:
The results of this study show that exposure to
smartphone RF waves triggers activation of neutrophils in vitro, as mirrored by
the significant variations observed in many activation parameters in Advia
2120.