Influence of GSM900 electromagnetic fields on the metabolic rate in rodents

Abstract. The development of exposure devices for investigating possible effects of mobile communication systems to non-restrained animals aims at a homogenous field distribution in the area the animals occupy. In the presented 900 MHz exposure device a quite good field homogeneity of 5% (including the standing wave contribution due to internal reflections) is reached in the cage region mainly by flattening the transverse field. For the standard waveguide (WR1150) without dielectric sheets this value reads 14%. The desired maximal whole body specific absorption rate (SAR) of 4 W/kg in the Djungarian hamster model is achieved at an input power of only 3.7 W.