WEB-003Original text reviewed
A reduced startle response after developmental 3.5 GHz exposure
The reported finding
Peak acoustic-startle swim distance was about 16.5% lower in exposed larvae (p=0.045).
Reading it carefully
Mortality, morphology and photomotor response were unchanged. High estimated SAR; a frequency-relevant developmental model, not demonstrated 5G traffic or human disease.
Inside the study
Technology connection
Relevant mobile-frequency experiment; waveform and dose described in this record.
Publication type
Original journal research
Exposure conditions
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 & controls
Zebrafish embryos, 144 across three experimental replicates; sham chamber; morphology and behaviour assessed at 120 h.
Statistics
See reported finding and original tables; effect sizes not independently recalculated.
Related research & shared cohorts
Linked Oregon State programme with WEB-004; publications are not independent replications.
The protection question raised
Which exposure conditions and biological models reproduce this response, and what would establish its relevance to health?
Source verification
Original methods/results sections reviewed; no independent raw-data or supplement audit.
Where to find the result
Original results/methods sections
Editorial notices
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 of interest
Disclosure statement not extracted in this source check; see the original publication.
Original publication
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.