Braz. j. . vol.82 número2

BrazJOtorhinolaryngol.2016;82(2):248---249

www.bjorl.org

Brazilian

Journal

of

OTORHINOLARYNGOLOGY

LETTER

TO

THE

EDITOR

Tinnitus

and

cell

phones:

the

role

of

electromagnetic

radiofrequency

radiation

Zumbido

e

celulares:

o

papel

da

radiac

¸ão

de

radiofrequência

eletromagnética

DearEditor:

We read with great interest an article by Medeiros and Sanchez entitled ‘‘Tinnitus and cell phones: the role of electromagneticradiofrequencyradiation’’,publishedasan ‘‘articleinpress’’intheBrazilianJournalof Otorhinolaryn-gology (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bjorl.2015.04.013). Theauthorsofthiswell-structuredchallengingpaperhave reviewedthe roleof electromagneticradiofrequency(RF) radiation emitted by cell phones on the occurrence of Tinnitus.Basedontheevidencepresentedbyauthors,they suggestedthat topreventauditorydamage andthe onset orworseningoftinnitus,mobilephonesshouldbeusedwith caution. Although the paper published by Medeiros and Sanchezcanberecognizedasaremarkablecontributionin thefieldofotorhinolaryngology,ithassomeshortcomings. Firstofall,theauthorshaveaddressedtheissueoftheso calledadaptive response‘‘Any provenharmfuleffect can havewide-rangingimplications,duetotheuniversal expo-suretoEMRFR,...,Incontrast,astudypublishedin1992

showedsubstantialevidencethatwhenpre-exposedtolow dosesofDNA-damagingfactorssuchasionizing radiation, ultravioletlight,alkylatingagents,andoxidants,cellscan developan adaptiveresponse, with consequentlygreater resistance to higher doses of aggressive agents’’. Over thepastseveralyears,ourlabhasperformedexperiments on the health effects of exposure of animal models and humanstodifferentsourcesofelectromagneticfieldssuch as cellular phones, mobile base stations, mobile phone jammers, laptop computers, radars, dentistry cavitrons and MRI. We have previously reported that when living organisms pre-exposed to either low doses of ionizing

夽

Pleasecitethisarticleas:MortazaviSMJ,MortazaviSAR.Tinnitus andcellphones:theroleofelectromagneticradiofrequency radia-tion.BrazJOtorhinolaryngol.2016;82:248---9.

radiation1,2_{orlowlevelsofnon-ionizingradiation,}3_receive

arelativelyhighdoselater,thenegativebiologicaleffects will be less than if they were exposed to the large dose alone. Therefore, when there is no challenge dose (lack of exposure to a high dose after receiving a low dose), adaptive response cannot be observed. Based on these points, insteadof using ‘‘adaptive response’’the authors shouldusetermssuchas‘‘stimulatory’’or‘‘beneficial’’for positiveeffectsoflowlevelsofradiation(Forareviewsee Mortazavietal.,20144_).

Furthermore, all of the references provided by the authorsastheevidenceforinductionofadaptiveresponse areabouttheeffectsofionizingradiationwhilethe induc-tion of adaptive response in animals/cells exposed to radiofrequencyradiationhavebeenclearlystudiedbyother researchersandourteam.3,5_{Ihopethatthesecommentswill}

beuseful inbetter understandingthe roleofRFradiation emittedbycellphonesontheoccurrenceofTinnitus.

Conflicts

of

interest

Theauthorsdeclarenoconflictsofinterest.

References

1.Ghiassi-Nejad M, Mortazavi S, Cameron J, Niroomand-Rad A, KaramP.VeryhighbackgroundradiationareasofRamsar,Iran: preliminarybiologicalstudies.HealthPhys.2002:82---7.

2.MortazaviSMJ, Shabestani-MonfaredA, Ghiassi-NejadM, Moz-daraniH.Radioadaptiveresponsesinducedinlymphocytesofthe inhabitantsinRamsar,Iran.IntCongSer.2005;1276:201---3.

3.Mortazavi SMJ, Mosleh-Shirazi MA, Tavassoli AR, Taheri M, MehdizadehAR,NamaziSAS,etal.Increasedradioresistanceto lethaldosesofgammaraysinmiceandratsafterexposureto microwaveradiationemittedbyaGSMmobilephonesimulator. DoseResponse.2013;11:281---92.

4.MortazaviSA,Tavakkoli-GolpayeganiA,HaghaniM,MortazaviSM. Lookingattheotherside ofthecoin:The searchfor possible biopositive cognitiveeffects ofthe exposure to 900MHzGSM mobilephoneradiofrequencyradiation.JEnvironHealthSciEng. 2014;12:75.

5.VijayalaxmiCY,ScarfiMR.Adaptiveresponseinmammaliancells exposedtonon-ionizingradiofrequencyfields:areviewandgaps inknowledge.MutatResRevMutatRes.2014;760:36---45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bjorl.2015.11.014

LETTERTOTHEEDITOR 249

SeyedMohammadJavadMortazavia,∗, SeyedAliRezaMortazavib

a_{IonizingandNon-ionizingRadiationProtectionResearch}

Center(INIRPRC),ShirazUniversityofMedicalSciences, Shiraz,Iran

b_{StudentResearchCommittee,SchoolofMedicine,Shiraz}

UniversityofMedicalSciences,Shiraz,Iran

∗_{Correspondingauthor.}