RADIOFREQUENCY RADIATION EFFECTS ON AGRONOMY (AGRICULTURAL CROPS AND CROP YIELDS)

 

A significant body of evidence documents a range of biological effects on plants, including germination, growth, and biochemistry, among others. (See review articles Levitt 2022, Kaur 2021, Levitt 2021)

 

A review of studies on twenty-nine plant species found 89% found physiological and/or morphological effects (Halgamuge 2017). 

 

There is also an emerging field of research translating this evidence into agricultural and agronomic impacts, such as crop yields. The level of evidence with respect to agronomic impact on each given plant species is mixed compared to the broader body of literature documenting clear biological effects of radiofrequency radiation. 

 

A growing number of studies point to significant, deleterious agricultural impacts, despite methodological limitations (see below). Collectively these studies are consistent with several themes:

• Radiofrequency radiation has significant effects on plant biology;
• The full extent of impacts on crops of agricultural importance needs more research to fully understand. Yet it could be economically significant;
• Prior to increasing levels of radiation exposure on agricultural lands, research is needed to more fully describe the extent and magnitude of these effects, both on plant biology and on concomitant economic impacts, and determine whether the alleged benefits of wireless, remote sensing technologies outweigh the deleterious effects on plants.

SELECTED STUDIES ON CROPS OF ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE: WHEAT, CORN, SOYBEAN, RICE, ONION, LETTUCE, STRING BEAN, CHICKPEA, FAVA BEAN

 

Wheat

After just three days of growth, wheat seedlings exposed to an ordinary cell phone were approximately 50% shorter and contained approximately 25% less protein (see Table 2).

Mansoor, Simeen. (2012). Effect of Mobile Phone Radiations on Morphological and Biochemical Parameters of Mung Bean (Vigna radiata) and Wheat (Triticum aestivum) Seedlings. Asian Journal of Agricultural Science. 149-152. Our results showed that cell phone EMR caused significant reduction in growth, fresh weight, dry weight, and relative water contents. Whereas MDA contents and antioxidant enzymes were increased in stressed seedlings as compared to unstressed seedlings. We concluded that radiations emitted by mobile phone can induce oxidative stress which results in reduced growth and increase in the activity of antioxidant enzymes in mung bean and wheat seedlings.

 

Corn

 

Researchers exposed corn seed to radiofrequency radiation at 1 GHz, in the range of frequencies used by many cellular phones. Seeds were exposed one time for zero to eight hours and then germinated and grown for 12 days. A one-time, 8-hour exposure reduced the height of seedlings by approximately 40% and the chlorophyll content by approximately 80%. Increasing the exposure time from zero up to eight hours exhibited a clear dose-response relationship, with an R-squared of 0.95. 

 

Racuciu, M., Iftode, C., Miclaus, S. (2015). Inhibitory effects of low thermal radiofrequency radiation on physiological parameters of zeamays seedlings growth. Rom. J. Phys. 60:603–612.

12-days old plantlets developed from Zea mays seeds exposed at 1 GHz inside a transverse electromagnetic cell for different exposure durations, at a specific absorption rate of energy deposition of 0.47 W/kg, showed decreased levels of photo-assimilatory pigments and nucleic acid contents, than controls. Longer exposure duration inhibited the plantlets’ growth.

 

Soybean

Halgamuge, Malka N., See Kye Yak and Jacob L. Eberhardt. “Reduced growth of soybean seedlings after exposure to weak microwave radiation from GSM 900 mobile phone and base station.” Bioelectromagnetics 36.2 (2015): 87-95.

• The aim of this work was to study possible effects of environmental radiation pollution on plants. The association between cellular telephone (short duration, higher amplitude) and base station (long duration, very low amplitude) radiation exposure and the growth rate of soybean (Glycine max) seedlings was investigated.
• The exposure to higher amplitude (41 V m−1) GSM radiation resulted in diminished outgrowth of the epicotyl. The exposure to lower amplitude (5.7 V m−1) GSM radiation did not influence outgrowth of epicotyl, hypocotyls, or roots. The exposure to higher amplitude CW radiation resulted in reduced outgrowth of the roots whereas lower CW exposure resulted in a reduced outgrowth of the hypocotyl. Soybean seedlings were also exposed for 5 days to an extremely low level of radiation (GSM 900 MHz, 0.56 V m−1) and outgrowth was studied 2 days later. Growth of epicotyl and hypocotyl was found to be reduced, whereas the outgrowth of roots was stimulated.
• Our findings indicate that the observed effects were significantly dependent on field strength as well as amplitude modulation of the applied field.

 

Rice

Kundu, Ardhendu et al. “Electromagnetic Irradiation Evokes Physiological and Molecular Alterations in Rice.” Bioelectromagnetics vol. 42,2 (2021): 173-185. 

In this study, controlled and periodic electromagnetic exposure of 1837.50 MHz, 2.75 W/m2 for 6 h a day on a popular rice variety (var. Satabdi) reduced the seed germination rate. …The reported responses in rice were observed below the international electromagnetic regulatory limits. Thus, rice plants perceived electromagnetic energy emitted by the wireless communication system as abiotic stress as per its response by upregulation or repression of known stress-sensing genes.

 

Onion

Shikha Chandel, et al. “Exposure to 2100 MHz electromagnetic field radiations induces reactive oxygen species generation in Allium cepa roots.” Journal of Microscopy and Ultrastructure 5.4 (2017): 225-229. 

• “The present study investigated the role of cell phone EMF-r in inciting oxidative damage in onion (Allium cepa) roots at a frequency of 2100 MHz. Onion roots were exposed to continuous wave homogenous EMF-r for 1, 2 and 4 h for single day. The results showed that EMF-r exposure enhanced the content of MDA, H2O2 and O2−. Also, there was an upregulation in the activity of antioxidant enzymes− SOD and CAT− in onion roots. The study concluded that 2100 MHz cell phone EMF-r incite oxidative damage in onion roots by altering the oxidative metabolism.”

 

Lettuce

Impacts of Radio-Frequency Electromagnetic Field (RF-EMF) on Lettuce (Lactuca sativa)—Evidence for RF-EMF Interference with Plant Stress Responses

Tran, Nam Trung, et al. “Impacts of Radio-Frequency Electromagnetic Field (RF-EMF) on Lettuce (Lactuca sativa)—Evidence for RF-EMF Interference with Plant Stress Responses” Plants 2023. 12, no. 5: 1082. 

In contrast, lettuce plants exposed to RF-EMF in the field showed a significant and systemic decrease in photosynthetic efficiency and accelerated flowering time compared to the control groups. Gene expression analysis revealed significant down-regulation of two stress-related genes in RF-EMF-exposed plants: violaxanthin de-epoxidase (VDE) and zeaxanthin epoxidase (ZEP). RF-EMF-exposed plants had lower Photosystem II’s maximal photochemical quantum yield (FV/FM) and non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) than control plants under light stress conditions. In summary, our results imply that RF-EMF might interfere with plant stress responses and reduced plant stress tolerance.

 

String beans

Surducan, V., et al. “Effects of Long-Term Exposure to Low-Power 915 MHz Unmodulated Radiation on Phaseolus vulgaris L.” Bioelectromagnetics, (2020) 41: 200-212.

The ultrastructure of the irradiated leaves showed irregular cells and a higher content of plastoglobules in the chloroplasts. All results indicate that the irradiated plants suffered significant morphological modifications during their long-term exposure to the specific EM radiation.

 

Chickpea

 

Qureshi, Sadaf Tabasum et al. “Radiofrequency radiations induced genotoxic and carcinogenic effects on chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) root tip cells.” Saudi journal of biological sciences vol. 24,4 (2017): 883-891. 

All the treatment of RF inhibits seed germination percentage. 48 h laptop treatment has the most negative effect as compared to untreated control. A decrease was observed in mitotic index (M.I) and increase in abnormality index (A.I) with the increase in exposure duration and frequency in (Hz). Cell membrane damages were also observed only in 48 h exposure of cell phone and laptop (RF). Maximum nuclear membrane damages and ghost cells were again recorded in 48 h exposure of cell phone and laptop. The radiofrequency radiations (900 MHz and 3.31 GHz) are only genotoxic as they induce micronuclei, bi-nuclei, multi-nuclei and scattered nuclei but could be carcinogenic as 48 h incubation of RF induced fragmentation and ghost cells.

 

Fava Bean / broad bean

Gustavino, B., et al. “Exposure to 915 MHz radiation induces micronuclei in Vicia faba root tips.” Mutagenesis 31.2 (2016): 187-92.

• Aimed at understanding whether less ambiguous responses to RF-EMF exposure might be evidenced in plant systems with respect to mammalian ones, in the present work the mutagenic effect of RF-EMF has been studied through the micronucleus (MN) test in secondary roots of Vicia faba seedlings exposed to mobile phone transmission in controlled conditions, inside a transverse electro magnetic (TEM) cell.
• Results of three independent experiments show the induction of a significant increase of MN frequency after exposure, ranging from a 2.3-fold increase above the sham value, at the lowest SAR level, up to a 7-fold increase at the highest SAR. These findings are in agreement with the limited number of data on cytogenetic effects detected in other plant systems exposed to mobile phone RF-EMF frequencies and clearly show the capability of radiofrequency exposure to induce DNA damage in this eukaryotic cell system.
• It is worth noticing that this range of SAR values is well below the international limits for localised exposure (head, trunk), according to the ICNIRP guidelines (35) and IEEE std C95.1 (38), which are 10 (8.0) W/kg for occupational exposure and 2.0 (1.6) W/kg for general public exposure respectively.

 

Scientific Citations 

Aikaterina L. Stefi, Dido Vassilacopoulou, Lukas H. Margaritis,  Nikolaos S. Christodoulakis,  (2018) Oxidative stress and an animal neurotransmitter synthesizing enzyme in the leaves of wild growing myrtle after exposure to GSM radiation, June 

Halgamuge, M. N., & Davis, D. (2019). Lessons learned from the application of machine learning to studies on plant response to radio-frequency. Environmental research, 178, 108634. 

Halgamuge, M. N. (2017). Review: Weak radiofrequency radiation exposure from mobile phone radiation on plants. Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine, 36(2), 213–235. 

Halgamuge, M. N., Yak, S. K., & Eberhardt, J. L. (2015). Reduced growth of soybean seedlings after exposure to weak microwave radiation from GSM 900 mobile phone and base station. Bioelectromagnetics, 36(2), 87–95. 

Haggerty, K. (2010). Adverse Influence of Radio Frequency Background on Trembling Aspen Seedlings: Preliminary Observations. International Journal of Forestry Research, 836278.  

Kaur, S., Vian, A., Chandel, S., Singh, D. H., Batish, D., & Kohli, R. (2021). Sensitivity of plants to high frequency electromagnetic radiation: Cellular mechanisms and morphological changes. Reviews in Environmental Science and Bio/Technology, 20.  

Marek Czerwiński, Alain Vian, Ben A. Woodcock, Piotr Goliński, Laura Recuero Virto, Łukasz Januszkiewicz. (2023). Do electromagnetic fields used in telecommunications affect wild plant species? A control impact study conducted in the field. Ecological Indicators. Volume 150. 110267.

Panda DK, Das DP, Behera SK, Dhal NK. Review on the impact of cell phone radiation effects on green plants. Environ Monit Assess. 2024 May 21;196(6):565 

Sharma A, Sharma S, Bahel S, Katnoria JK. A study on effects of cell phone tower-emitted non-ionizing radiations in an Allium cepa test system. Environ Monit Assess. 2024 Feb 13;196(3):261. doi: 10.1007/s10661-024-12435-2. PMID: 38349609.

Sharma, S., Sharma, P., Bahel, S. et al. Comprehensive analysis of genotoxic effects and antioxidative defence mechanisms in plant test system exposed to 1800 MHz electromagnetic radiations: a root chromosomal aberration and FTIR spectroscopy approach. Toxicol. Environ. Health Sci. (2023). 

Stefi, A. L., Margaritis, L. H., & Christodoulakis, N. S. (2016). The effect of the non ionizing radiation on cultivated plants of Arabidopsis thaliana (Col.). Flora, 223, 114–120. 

Tran, N. T., Jokic, L., Keller, J., Geier, J. U., & Kaldenhoff, R. (2023). Impacts of Radio-Frequency Electromagnetic Field (RF-EMF) on Lettuce (Lactuca sativa)-Evidence for RF-EMF Interference with Plant Stress Responses. Plants (Basel, Switzerland), 12(5), 1082. 

Waldmann-Selsam, C., Balmori-de la Puente, A., Breunig, H., & Balmori, A. (2016). Radiofrequency radiation injures trees around mobile phone base stations. Science of The Total Environment, 572, 554–569. 

Marek Czerwiński, Łukasz Januszkiewicz, Alain Vian, Amparo Lázaro, (2020) The influence of bioactive mobile telephony radiation at the level of a plant community – Possible mechanisms and indicators of the effects, Ecological Indicators, Volume 108 

Vian A, Davies E, Gendraud M, Bonnet P. Plant Responses to High Frequency Electromagnetic Fields. Biomed Res Int. 2016;2016 

Zhong, Z., Wang, X., Yin, X., Tian, J., & Komatsu, S. (2021). Morphophysiological and Proteomic Responses on Plants of Irradiation with Electromagnetic Waves. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22(22), Article 22.

Pustake, V. Upadhyaya and M. Bundele, “Study and Analysis of 4G-5G Spectrum Mobile Signals on Germination Seed and Further Growth,” 2022 IEEE Pune Section International Conference (PuneCon), Pune, India, 2022, pp. 1-7 

Sharma, S., Sharma, P., Bahel, S. et al. Comprehensive analysis of genotoxic effects and antioxidative defence mechanisms in plant test system exposed to 1800 MHz electromagnetic radiations: a root chromosomal aberration and FTIR spectroscopy approach Toxicol. Environ. Health Sci. (2023). 

A.L. Stefi, L.H. Margaritis, N.S. Christodoulakis (2017) The aftermath of long-term exposure to non-ionizing radiation on laboratory cultivated pine plants (Pinus halepensis M.) Flora, 234, pp. 173-186, 

Ozel, HB, Cetin, M., Sevik, H., Varol, T., Isik, B., & Yaman, B. (2021). The effects of base station as an electromagnetic radiation source on flower and cone yield and germination percentage in Pinus brutia Ten. Biologia Futura , 72 (3), 359-365.

Pesnya DS, Romanovsky AV. Comparison of cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of plutonium-239 

alpha particles and mobile phone GSM 900 radiation in the Allium cepa test. Mutat Res. 2013 Jan 20;750(1-2):27-33.  

Pall. M., Electromagnetic Fields Act Similarly in Plants as in Animals: Probable Activation of Calcium Channels via Their Voltage Sensor, Current Chemical Biology, 2016, 10, 74-82