# WEB-003 — A reduced startle response after developmental 3.5 GHz exposure

Why this matters
Developmental experiments can reveal changes that broad measures of growth miss. Here a modest behavioural response changed even though survival and visible development were unaffected.

Id: WEB-003

Author: Dasgupta et al.

Full Authors: Subham Dasgupta; Guangxin Wang; Michael T Simonich; Tingwei Zhang; Lisa Truong; Huaping Liu; Robyn L Tanguay

Year: 2020

Title: Impacts of high dose 3.5 GHz cellphone radiofrequency on zebrafish embryonic development

Journal: PloS one

Citation: Subham Dasgupta; Guangxin Wang; Michael T Simonich; Tingwei Zhang; Lisa Truong; Huaping Liu; Robyn L Tanguay. Impacts of high dose 3.5 GHz cellphone radiofrequency on zebrafish embryonic development. PloS one. 2020. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0235869.

Doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0235869

Pmid: 32645106

Topic: Development and behaviour; 3.5 GHz developmental experiments

Verification Group: Original text reviewed

Record Role: Original text reviewed

Featured: False

Exposure: 3.5 GHz; estimated SAR 8.27 W/kg; embryo exposure from 6 to 48 h after fertilisation; water maintained near 28–29°C.

Design: Zebrafish embryos, 144 across three experimental replicates; sham chamber; morphology and behaviour assessed at 120 h.

Finding: Peak acoustic-startle swim distance was about 16.5% lower in exposed larvae (p=0.045).

Statistics: See reported finding and original tables; effect sizes not independently recalculated.

Boundary: Mortality, morphology and photomotor response were unchanged. High estimated SAR; a frequency-relevant developmental model, not demonstrated 5G traffic or human disease.

Related: Linked Oregon State programme with WEB-004; publications are not independent replications.

Protection Question: Which exposure conditions and biological models reproduce this response, and what would establish its relevance to health?

Access: Original methods/results sections reviewed; no independent raw-data or supplement audit.

Locator: Original results/methods sections

Notice: Linked notice fields in retrieved Europe PMC/PubMed records checked 21 October 2026; no correction or retraction surfaced there. Publisher-history and forward-citation screening are not exhaustive.

Funding: This project was supported by Internal Pilot Project Funds. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Conflicts: Disclosure statement not extracted in this source check; see the original publication.

Source Url: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0235869

Retrieval Links: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0235869 | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32645106/ | https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7347199/

Verification Date: 2026-10-21

Discovery Id: EML-5G-003

Technology Tracks: 5g

Technology Connection: Relevant mobile-frequency experiment; waveform and dose described in this record.

Publication Type: Original journal research

Study Setting: Animals

Browse Categories: brain|environment