With the rapid growth of wireless communication devices, the influences of electromagnetic fields (EMF) on human health are gathering increasing attention. Since the skin is the largest organ of the body and is located at the outermost layer, it is considered a major target for the health effects of EMF. Skin pigmentation represents one of the most frequent symptoms caused by various non-ionizing radiations, including ultraviolet radiation, blue light, infrared, and extremely low frequency (ELF). Here, we investigated the effects of EMFs with long-term evolution (LTE, 1.762 GHz) and 5G (28 GHz) bandwidth on skin pigmentation in vitro. Murine and Human melanoma cells (B16F10 and MNT-1) were exposed to either LTE or 5G for 4 h per day, which is considered the upper bound of average smartphone use time. It was shown that neither LTE nor 5G exposure induced significant effects on cell viability or pigmentation. The dendrites of MNT-1 were neither lengthened nor regressed after EMF exposure. Skin pigmentation effects of EMFs were further examined in the human keratinocyte cell line (MNT-1-HaCaT) co-culture system, which confirmed the absence of significant hyper-pigmentation effects of LTE and 5G EMFs. Lastly, MelanoDerm?꽓, a 3D pigmented human epidermis model, was irradiated with LTE (1.762 GHz) or 5G (28 GHz), and image analysis and special staining were performed. No changes in the brightness of MelanoDerm?꽓 tissues were observed in LTE-or 5G-exposed tissues, except for only minimal changes in the size of melanocytes. Collectively, these results imply that exposure to LTE and 5G EMFs may not affect melanin synthesis or skin pigmentation under normal smartphone use condition.
KSP Keywords
28 GHz, And Image analysis, Blue light, Cell line, Cell viability, Co-culture system, Communication device, EMF Exposure, Electromagnetic Field(EMF), Electromagnetic Waves, Extremely low frequency
This work is distributed under the term of Creative Commons License (CCL)
(CC BY)
Copyright Policy
ETRI KSP Copyright Policy
The materials provided on this website are subject to copyrights owned by ETRI and protected by the Copyright Act. Any reproduction, modification, or distribution, in whole or in part, requires the prior explicit approval of ETRI. However, under Article 24.2 of the Copyright Act, the materials may be freely used provided the user complies with the following terms:
The materials to be used must have attached a Korea Open Government License (KOGL) Type 4 symbol, which is similar to CC-BY-NC-ND (Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License). Users are free to use the materials only for non-commercial purposes, provided that original works are properly cited and that no alterations, modifications, or changes to such works is made. This website may contain materials for which ETRI does not hold full copyright or for which ETRI shares copyright in conjunction with other third parties. Without explicit permission, any use of such materials without KOGL indication is strictly prohibited and will constitute an infringement of the copyright of ETRI or of the relevant copyright holders.
J. Kim et. al, "Trends in Lightweight Kernel for Many core Based High-Performance Computing", Electronics and Telecommunications Trends. Vol. 32, No. 4, 2017, KOGL Type 4: Source Indication + Commercial Use Prohibition + Change Prohibition
J. Sim et.al, “the Fourth Industrial Revolution and ICT – IDX Strategy for leading the Fourth Industrial Revolution”, ETRI Insight, 2017, KOGL Type 4: Source Indication + Commercial Use Prohibition + Change Prohibition
If you have any questions or concerns about these terms of use, or if you would like to request permission to use any material on this website, please feel free to contact us
KOGL Type 4:(Source Indication + Commercial Use Prohibition+Change Prohibition)
Contact ETRI, Research Information Service Section
Privacy Policy
ETRI KSP Privacy Policy
ETRI does not collect personal information from external users who access our Knowledge Sharing Platform (KSP). Unathorized automated collection of researcher information from our platform without ETRI's consent is strictly prohibited.
[Researcher Information Disclosure] ETRI publicly shares specific researcher information related to research outcomes, including the researcher's name, department, work email, and work phone number.
※ ETRI does not share employee photographs with external users without the explicit consent of the researcher. If a researcher provides consent, their photograph may be displayed on the KSP.