WEB-029Original text reviewed
60.4 GHz: changes in substances released by skin cells
The reported finding
Extracellular metabolomic profiles contained 111 and 99 altered features in positive/negative ion modes; intracellular and lipid changes were much smaller.
Reading it carefully
Membrane permeability was inferred, not directly demonstrated. Control cultures were run one day apart. Subcellular thermal changes could not be excluded; many metabolite identities remained tentative.
Inside the study
Technology connection
60 GHz-region or adjacent-band biology; not an experiment with a WiGig device and not evidence of an oxygen-deprivation mechanism.
Publication type
Original journal research
Exposure conditions
60.4 GHz, 20 mW/cm² for 24 h; temperature, pH and humidity controlled.
Design & controls
HaCaT keratinocytes; intracellular/extracellular metabolomics and lipidomics with exposed and non-exposed samples.
Statistics
See the original results; effect sizes were not independently recalculated.
Related research & shared cohorts
Rennes skin-cell programme, including WEB-019 and the pulsed-heating study.
The protection question raised
Which exposure conditions reproduce this finding, and what would establish its relevance beyond the experimental model?
Source verification
Original methods/results and interpretation reviewed; raw data and supplements were not independently audited.
Where to find the result
Original methods and results
Editorial notices
Linked Europe PMC/PubMed notice fields checked 21 October 2026; no correction/retraction surfaced for this record. Publisher/citation screening is not exhaustive.
Funding
Reported funder(s): https://doi.org/10.13039/501100007546 Agence Nationale de Sécurité Sanitaire de l'Alimentation, de l'Environnement et du Travail (ANSES). Grant identifiers: BEMAM n° EST-2014/2 RF/012.
Conflicts of interest
See original disclosure; no independently verified conflict assessment.
Original publication
Pierre Le Pogam; Yann Le Page; Denis Habauzit; Mickael Doué; Maxim Zhadobov; Ronan Sauleau; Yves Le Dréan; David Rondeau. Untargeted metabolomics unveil alterations of biomembranes permeability in human HaCaT keratinocytes upon 60 GHz millimeter-wave exposure. Scientific reports. 2019. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-45662-6.