International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health | July 2021 | Vol 8 | Issue 7 Page 3546 International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health Revanth MP et al. Int J Community Med Public Health. 2021 Jul;8(7):3546-3550 http://www.ijcmph.com pISSN 2394-6032 | eISSN 2394-6040 Original Research Article Effects of mobile phone radiation on buccal mucosal cells based on specific absorption rate: a cross sectional study M. P. Revanth 1 *, S. Aparna 1 , Parangimalai Diwakar Madankumar 1 , K. Ranganathan 2 INTRODUCTION Over the past decade, the use of mobile phones has increased drastically. The rapid increase in the use of mobile phone has raised the health concerns about potential risks associated with exposure to electromagnetic fields produced by the mobile phone radiation. 1 In India, according to Telecom regulatory authority of India, New Delhi, September 2019, total wireless Telephone Subscribers were 1168.31 Million with an increasing monthly growth rate of 0.24%. 2 As of present scenario, mobile phones are used at an enormous number by all the age-groups, particularly highest in the age group of 25-34 years. 3 According to Dagli et al, it has been noted that an average person spends 90 min a day on their phone which is used not only for having conversations but also for various purpose. 4 Mobile phones emit electromagnetic radiation in the microwave range 300 MHz and 300 GHz. 2 The rate at which the electromagnetic radiation is absorbed by human bodies is called as Specific Absorption Rate (SAR). It is a standardized unit which measures the impact of radio frequency electromagnetic waves on the human body and it is expressed as Watt/kg. The FCC (Federal Communication Commission) has limited the maximum legal SAR of any handheld cell device to 1.6 Watt/kg in India. 5 ABSTRACT Background: The usage of mobile phone had been increased drastically which created a major health concern among the people about the radiation emitted from mobile phones. Hence this study was aimed to evaluate the Micronuclei (MN) frequency in exfoliated oral mucosal cells in high and low mobile users based on Specific absorption rate (SAR) value. Methods: The total of 60 subjects were divided into two major groups: low SAR mobile phone users and high SAR mobile phone users. Further, Subjects who use mobile phone for more than 3 hours a week was considered as high talk time users and less than 3 hours a week was low talk time users. The buccal mucosa cells extracted by slightly scraping the oral cavity with a wooden spatula. For staining, Giemsa stain was used. Micronuclei were evaluated in 1000 cells per individual at the microscope. Results: The result show prolonged talk time may interfere with the development of micronuclei in individuals who use mobile phone for more than 3 hours per week rather than high SAR value showing a significant increase in frequency of micronuclei formation. Conclusions: The study showed mobile phone radiation had adverse effects on buccal mucosal cells. Keywords: Mobile phone, Radiation, Micronuclei, Buccal mucosa 1 Department of Public Health Dentistry, 2 Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Ragas Dental College and Hospital, Uthandi, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India Received: 16 May 2021 Accepted: 10 June 2021 *Correspondence: Dr. M. P. Revanth, E-mail: revanthmpbds95@gmail.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20212616