A new study by scientists in Russia has found something surprising: 5G radiation, the kind used by your phone, might be changing the brain tissue of rats. While people have been concerned about the health effects of 5G ever since it started rolling out, no clear answers have been found—until now.
The team of scientists from Tomsk State University (TSU) wanted to find out how 5G radiation affects the brains of rodents, specifically rats. They chose Wistar rats, which are commonly used in experiments because their reactions to things are similar to humans. They decided to experiment on three groups of rats at different ages: young (5-6 weeks), middle-aged (10-11 weeks), and older rats (17-18 weeks). These ages are meant to match human ages, so the young rats are like teenagers, the middle-aged ones are like adults, and the older rats are like seniors. The rats were exposed to 5G radiation for five weeks, which is about four years in human years.
At first glance, the rats didn’t seem to show any obvious changes compared to the rats that weren’t exposed to 5G radiation. But when the scientists took a closer look at the rats’ brain tissue, they found something unusual. The balance between antioxidants (good for protecting cells) and oxidants (which can cause damage) was off in the rats exposed to 5G radiation.
Now, here’s the big question: what does this mean for the rats’ brains? The scientists are still not sure. They don’t know whether these changes could be harmful or if the rats’ brains might adjust over time and get back to normal. The lead scientist, Natalia Krivova, said this means more research is needed.
The study was the first of its kind to measure how much radiation the rats were absorbing, and it was done with help from some high-tech equipment designed specifically for the experiment. The team used a 5G antenna they built themselves and created a special method to measure the radiation the rats were exposed to.
This research is part of a bigger project that the World Health Organization (WHO) started to answer people’s concerns about the potential health risks of 5G radiation. In the next phase of the study, the scientists plan to look at how 5G affects female rats and whether it could impact their babies, but they need more funding to continue.
So, while the results are still unclear, this study has opened up a whole new line of research. Could 5G be affecting us in ways we don’t yet understand? Only time—and more studies—will tell.
