Lester J. Rosario Rodríguez RISE Program July 26th, 2010

804-10-7740

Proposal: Prenatal Exposure to Cell Phones and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in the

Offspring

Introduction:

Today technology is our best arm to survive in this world. All here is about technology, and it is

continuously enhancing. As the technology continues to advance, the people become even more

dependent to it. These are the cases of cell phones. They have become people’s most important

gadgets because they facilitate the communication. There are several negative things that are being

attributed to the high exposure of electromagnetic fields by the use of cell phones:

Divan and collaborators in 2008 associated cell phones use during pregnancy to

behavioral problems in children. The attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

(ADHD) was associated. The results of this research tended to confuse scientists.

Vrijheid and collaborators in 2010 associated high exposure to cell phones

during pregnancy to neurodevelopment problems in the offspring. Those

children of users had higher mental development scores and lower

psychomotor development scores, which may be due to unmeasured

confounding.

The symptoms of the attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) include:

difficulty staying focused and paying attention

difficulty controlling behavior

Hyperactivity (over-activity).

Hypothesis:

Prenatal high exposure to cell phone use provokes attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in the

offspring.

Objective:

To determine if the prenatal high exposure to cell phone use causes attention-deficit/hyperactivity

disorder

Goal:

Raise awareness in pregnant women about the use of cell phones.

Methodology:

First Phase:

A big group of recently pregnant women will be asked to fill a questionnaire about the time they

spent a day talking through cell phones until their children are born.

Another questionnaire will be filled by these mothers about the behavior of their children when

they are 3 to 6 years old. They will also answer if their children are using cell phones and how

much time, because the ADHD is diagnosed at the ages of 5 or 6 and there could be a postnatal

exposure associated. Their behavior will be compared with the one of children with ADHD when

they were at that age.

I chose that ages because there the symptoms may be present, but it is difficult to diagnose

ADHD, because a normal child could behave that way

It will be determined how many children are diagnosed with ADHD, if there is any.

Second Phase:

Expose pregnant hamsters to electromagnetic radiation equivalent to cell phone exposure, at

different frequencies and time intervals:

These are the frequencies of cell phones):

900 MHz

1.9 GHz

2.4-GHz

5.8 GHz

In each frequency there will be 2 groups. One group will be exposed for 3 hours a day

and the other group for 6 hours a day.

There will be a control group with no exposure

It will be observed the behavior of the hamsters

Projections:

Propose pregnant women to use cell phones with low frequencies of electromagnetic radiation

or use them for short periods.

Research about the effects of high exposure to cell phone use in the behavior or health of

children, adolescents and adults.

References:

Divan, Hozefa A.; Kheifets, Leeka; Obel, Carsten; Olsen, Jørn. (2008). Prenatal and Postnatal

Exposure to Cell Phone Use and Behavioral Problems in Children. Retrieved from:

http://journals.lww.com/epidem/Abstract/2008/07000/Prenatal_and_Postnatal_Exposure_to_

Cell_Phone_Use.1.aspx

Vrijheid M, Martinez D, Forns J, Guxens M, Julvez J, Ferrer, Sunyer J. (2010). Prenatal exposure

to cell phone use and neurodevelopment at 14 months. Retrieved from:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20087192

NIMH. (2008). Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Retrieved on July 2, 2010, from:

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-

disorder/complete-index.shtml