Effects of Radiofrequency Field exposure on male fertility & pregnancy & birth outcomes: Protocols for a systematic review of experimental studies in non-human mammals & in human sperm exposed in vitro
Abstract
Effects of Radiofrequency Field exposure on male fertility & pregnancy & birth outcomes: Protocols for a systematic review of experimental studies in non-human mammals & in human sperm exposed in vitro Francesca Pacchierotti, Lucia Ardoino, Barbara Benassi, Claudia Consales, Eugenia Cordelli,Patrizia Eleuteri, Carmela Marino, Maurizio Sciortino, Martin H.Brinkworth, Guangdi Chen, James P. McNamee, Andrew William Wood, Carlijn R. Hooijmans. Rob B.M. de Vries. Effects of Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Field (RF-EMF) exposure on male fertility and pregnancy and birth outcomes: Protocols for a systematic review of experimental studies in non-human mammals and in human sperm exposed in vitro. Environment Intl. Volume 157, December 2021, 106806. Highlights • Male infertility and adverse pregnancy outcomes are relevant human health problems. • Radiofrequency electromagnetic fields are widespread in the human environment. • A link between radiofrequency and adverse reproductive outcomes is controversial. • This is the protocol of WHO-funded systematic review and meta-analysis on this issue. Abstract Background Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields (RF-EMF) at environmental level have been reported to induce adverse effects on the male reproductive system and developing embryos. However, despite the number of experiments conducted since the 1970s, the diversity of testing approaches and exposure conditions, inconsistencies among results, and dosimetric flaws have not yet permitted a solid assessment of the relationship between RF-EMF exposure and such effects, warranting a more systematic and methodologically rigorous approach to the evaluation of available data. Objectives This study aims at evaluating the effects of RF-EMF exposure on male fertility and pregnancy outcomes by a systematic review (SR) of experimental studies, conducted in compliance with international guidelines. The evidence will be organized into three streams: 1) Studies evaluating the impact of RF-EMF on the male reproductive system of experimental mammals; 2) studies evaluating the impact of RF-EMF on human sperm exposed in vitro; 3) studies evaluating the impact of RF-EMF on adverse pregnancy, birth outcomes and delayed effects in experimental mammals exposed in utero. Study eligibility and criteria Eligible studies will include peer-reviewed articles reporting of original results about effects of controlled exposures to RF-EMF in the frequency range 100 kHz–300 GHz on the selected outcomes without any language or year-of-publication restrictions. Eligible studies will be retrieved by calibrated search strings applied to three electronic databases, PubMed, Scopus and EMF Portal and by manual search of the list of references of included papers and published reviews. Study appraisal and synthesis method The internal validity of the studies will be evaluated using the Risk of Bias (RoB) Rating Tool developed by National Toxicology Program/Office of Health Assessment and Translation (NTP/OHAT) integrated with input from the SYRCLE RoB tool. Given sufficient commensurate data, meta- analyses will be performed, otherwise narrative syntheses will be produced. Finally, the certainty of the effects of RF-EMF exposure on male fertility and pregnancy and birth outcomes will be established following GRADE. Funding The study is financially supported by the World Health Organization. Registration OSF Registration DOI doi.org; PROSPERO CRD42021227729, CRD42021227746. sciencedirect.com
AI evidence extraction
Main findings
This article describes protocols for a WHO-funded systematic review and meta-analysis assessing effects of controlled RF-EMF exposures (100 kHz–300 GHz) on male fertility and pregnancy/birth outcomes in experimental mammals and on human sperm exposed in vitro. It does not report results of the review.
Outcomes measured
- Male fertility and male reproductive system outcomes (experimental mammals)
- Human sperm outcomes in vitro
- Pregnancy outcomes (experimental mammals exposed in utero)
- Birth outcomes (experimental mammals exposed in utero)
- Delayed developmental effects after in utero exposure (experimental mammals)
Limitations
- Protocol paper; no results reported.
- Planned conclusions depend on availability of sufficiently commensurate data for meta-analysis; otherwise narrative synthesis will be used.
View raw extracted JSON
{
"publication_year": 2021,
"study_type": "systematic_review",
"exposure": {
"band": "RF",
"source": null,
"frequency_mhz": null,
"sar_wkg": null,
"duration": null
},
"population": "Non-human mammals (experimental) and human sperm exposed in vitro",
"sample_size": null,
"outcomes": [
"Male fertility and male reproductive system outcomes (experimental mammals)",
"Human sperm outcomes in vitro",
"Pregnancy outcomes (experimental mammals exposed in utero)",
"Birth outcomes (experimental mammals exposed in utero)",
"Delayed developmental effects after in utero exposure (experimental mammals)"
],
"main_findings": "This article describes protocols for a WHO-funded systematic review and meta-analysis assessing effects of controlled RF-EMF exposures (100 kHz–300 GHz) on male fertility and pregnancy/birth outcomes in experimental mammals and on human sperm exposed in vitro. It does not report results of the review.",
"effect_direction": "unclear",
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"summary": "This paper presents the protocol for a WHO-funded systematic review and meta-analysis on controlled RF-EMF exposures and reproductive outcomes. The review will cover three evidence streams: male reproductive outcomes in experimental mammals, human sperm exposed in vitro, and pregnancy/birth (including delayed) outcomes in mammals exposed in utero. The protocol specifies eligibility criteria (100 kHz–300 GHz), search sources, risk-of-bias assessment, and plans for meta-analysis or narrative synthesis with GRADE certainty ratings.",
"key_points": [
"The article is a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis rather than a report of experimental results.",
"It targets RF-EMF exposures in the range 100 kHz–300 GHz.",
"Evidence will be organized into animal male reproductive studies, in vitro human sperm studies, and in utero animal pregnancy/birth outcome studies.",
"The protocol notes prior literature is inconsistent and may have dosimetric flaws, motivating a more rigorous synthesis.",
"Searches are planned in PubMed, Scopus, and EMF Portal, plus manual reference checking.",
"Risk of bias will be assessed using an NTP/OHAT-based tool with input from SYRCLE.",
"Meta-analysis will be conducted if data are sufficiently commensurate; otherwise narrative synthesis will be used.",
"Certainty of evidence will be evaluated using GRADE."
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"Radiofrequency Exposure",
"Male Fertility",
"Sperm In Vitro",
"Pregnancy Outcomes",
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"Risk Of Bias",
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"100 kHz–300 GHz"
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