Author: Taheri M1, Mortazavi SM2, Moradi M1, Mansouri S1, Hatam GR3, Nouri F4
Affiliation: <sup>1</sup>Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Kerman Province, Iran.
<sup>2</sup>Ionizing and Non-ionizing Radiation Protection Research Center (INIRPRC), Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran; Medical Physics and Medical Engineering Department, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
<sup>3</sup>Basic Sciences, School of Advanced Medical Sciences and Technologies, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
<sup>4</sup>Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center, School of Pharmacy, Shiraz University of Medical Science, Shiraz, Iran.
Conference/Journal: Dose Response.
Date published: 2017 Jan 23
Other:
Volume ID: 15 , Issue ID: 1 , Pages: 1559325816688527 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1177/1559325816688527. , Word Count: 290
Mobile phones and Wi-Fi radiofrequency radiation are among the main sources of the exposure of the general population to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF). Previous studies have shown that exposure of microorganisms to RF-EMFs can be associated with a wide spectrum of changes ranged from the modified bacterial growth to the alterations of the pattern of antibiotic resistance. Our laboratory at the nonionizing department of the Ionizing and Non-ionizing Radiation Protection Research Center has performed experiments on the health effects of exposure to animal models and humans to different sources of electromagnetic fields such as cellular phones, mobile base stations, mobile phone jammers, laptop computers, radars, dentistry cavitrons, magnetic resonance imaging, and Helmholtz coils. On the other hand, we have previously studied different aspects of the challenging issue of the ionizing or nonionizing radiation-induced alterations in the susceptibility of microorganisms to antibiotics. In this study, we assessed if the exposure to 900 MHz GSM mobile phone radiation and 2.4 GHz radiofrequency radiation emitted from common Wi-Fi routers alters the susceptibility of microorganisms to different antibiotics. The pure cultures of Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli were exposed to RF-EMFs generated either by a GSM 900 MHz mobile phone simulator and a common 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi router. It is also shown that exposure to RF-EMFs within a narrow level of irradiation (an exposure window) makes microorganisms resistant to antibiotics. This adaptive phenomenon and its potential threats to human health should be further investigated in future experiments. Altogether, the findings of this study showed that exposure to Wi-Fi and RF simulator radiation can significantly alter the inhibition zone diameters and growth rate for L monocytogenes and E coli. These findings may have implications for the management of serious infectious diseases.
KEYWORDS: Wi-Fi; antibiogram; bacteria; radiofrequency radiation
PMID: 28203122 DOI: 10.1177/1559325816688527