Nam KC, Kim SW, Kim SC, Kim DW (2006)

The authors recruited 21 teenagers (12 males) and 21 adults (11 males) for this study. They were exposed to RFR from a CDMA phone (835 MHz, SAR 1.6W/kg), or sham-exposed. Each exposure was 30 minutes. The sham exposure was always done first, and was followed by a 30 minute rest. The experiment was done in a double blind fashion. Heart rate, respiratory rate, skin resistance, and blood pressure were measured.

There were no differences in the adult group between sham and real exposures. In the teenage group, there were no differences except for a significant decrease in skin resistance. When males from both groups were combined and compared with females, there was again a statistically significant decrease in skin resistance. Since the results for gender difference are not given for the separate groups, it is not clear whether the difference in skin resistance between males and females is due to the results in the teenage group.

The main criticism of this study is the lack of randomization of the exposure type. The authors quote a study by Braune et al. (1998) that showed a decrease in blood pressure that was apparently due to RFR, but do not mention that a replication study by Braune et al. (2002) did not show any difference between sham and RFR exposure. In the 2002 study the exposure sequence was randomized. However, the authors state that the decrease in skin resistance returned to the initial resting value 10 minutes after the end of the RFR exposure.