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.

PAPER pubmed Environment international 2021 Systematic review Effect: unclear Evidence: Insufficient

Read original paper → DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2021.106806 PMID: 34454359 Evidence Lab

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.

AI evidence extraction

At a glance

Study type

Systematic review

Effect direction

unclear

Population

Non-human mammals (experimental) and human sperm exposed in vitro

Sample size

—

Exposure

Evidence strength

Insufficient

Confidence: 86% · Peer-reviewed: yes

Main findings

This article describes protocols for a systematic review of experimental studies assessing effects of controlled RF-EMF exposures (100 kHz–300 GHz) on male fertility and pregnancy/birth outcomes. No results are reported in the abstract.

Outcomes measured

Male fertility / male reproductive system outcomes in experimental mammals
Human sperm outcomes in vitro
Adverse pregnancy outcomes in experimental mammals exposed in utero
Birth outcomes in experimental mammals exposed in utero
Delayed effects in experimental mammals exposed in utero

Limitations

Protocol paper; no study results reported
Specific exposure sources, levels (e.g., SAR), and durations are not provided in the abstract

Suggested hubs

who-icnirp (0.62)
The systematic review protocol is financially supported by the World Health Organization (WHO).

View raw extracted JSON

{
    "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 / male reproductive system outcomes in experimental mammals",
        "Human sperm outcomes in vitro",
        "Adverse pregnancy outcomes in experimental mammals exposed in utero",
        "Birth outcomes in experimental mammals exposed in utero",
        "Delayed effects in experimental mammals exposed in utero"
    ],
    "main_findings": "This article describes protocols for a systematic review of experimental studies assessing effects of controlled RF-EMF exposures (100 kHz–300 GHz) on male fertility and pregnancy/birth outcomes. No results are reported in the abstract.",
    "effect_direction": "unclear",
    "limitations": [
        "Protocol paper; no study results reported",
        "Specific exposure sources, levels (e.g., SAR), and durations are not provided in the abstract"
    ],
    "evidence_strength": "insufficient",
    "confidence": 0.85999999999999998667732370449812151491641998291015625,
    "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
    "keywords": [
        "RF-EMF",
        "radiofrequency",
        "male fertility",
        "male reproductive system",
        "human sperm",
        "in vitro",
        "pregnancy outcomes",
        "birth outcomes",
        "experimental mammals",
        "systematic review protocol",
        "risk of bias",
        "GRADE",
        "WHO funding"
    ],
    "suggested_hubs": [
        {
            "slug": "who-icnirp",
            "weight": 0.61999999999999999555910790149937383830547332763671875,
            "reason": "The systematic review protocol is financially supported by the World Health Organization (WHO)."
        }
    ]
}

AI can be wrong. Always verify against the paper.

AI-extracted fields are generated from the abstract/metadata and may be incomplete or incorrect. This content is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice.

Comments

No comments yet.