Environmental radiofrequency exposure and genotoxic biomarkers in schoolchildren: a cross-sectional analysis

Environmental exposure to radiofrequency (RF) radiation from mobile phone base stations (MPBS) has raised concerns regarding potential biological effects, particularly in children. This cross-sectional study examined the associations between ambient RF exposure and micronuclei (MN) frequency, a biomarker of genomic instability, among 200 primary schoolchildren. Environmental RF power density (S, µW/cm²) was measured at eight schools located at varying distances from MPBS, and buccal mucosa samples were analyzed for MN frequency. Exploratory analyses showed that RF radiation levels were inversely correlated with distance from MPBS (r = - 0.740, p < 0.001), while MN frequency was positively correlated with measured RF levels (r = 0.850, p < 0.001). Primary inferential analyses were performed using linear mixed-effects models with school included as a random intercept to account for clustering, adjusting for demographic, lifestyle, and environmental covariates. Higher RF power density and shorter distance from MPBS remained statistically associated with higher MN frequency, with consistent findings observed in sensitivity analyses using distance from MPBS as an alternative exposure parameter. All measured RF levels were below current international public exposure guidelines. These findings suggest that variation in ambient RF exposure in school environments may be associated with MN frequency in children. Given the cross-sectional design and school-level exposure assessment, the results should be interpreted as exploratory and hypothesis-generating.