Authors : Dr. Prashant Agrawal; Dr. Navin Agrawal; Dr. Anand Sharma; Dr. Tanuj Chaturvedi; Dr. Kabir Bagga; Dr. Sidra Khan

Volume/Issue : Volume 11 - 2026, Issue 6 - June

Google Scholar : https://tinyurl.com/24djueu7

Scribd : https://tinyurl.com/ybsj2dbp

DOI : https://doi.org/10.38124/ijisrt/26jun1520

Note : A published paper may take 4-5 working days from the publication date to appear in PlumX Metrics, Semantic Scholar, and ResearchGate.

Abstract : Background The ubiquitous use of mobile phones and personal listening devices (PLDs) has raised concerns regarding potential longterm risks to auditory health due to combined acoustic and radiofrequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) exposure.  Objective To evaluate and compare the pure-tone audiometric (PTA) thresholds between the dominant ear (used for mobile phone calls) and the non-dominant ear in healthy, asymptomatic individuals.  Materials and Methods An 18-month observational cross-section study was conducted on 600 healthy volunteers aged 20–45 years. Detailed mobile exposure profiles (years of use, daily duration) were recorded. Standard pure-tone audiometry (PTA) was performed across frequencies from 250 Hz to 8000 Hz. The dominant ear served as the exposure group, while the non-dominant ear served as the internal control. Data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Spearman’s rank correlation.  Results The mean age of the cohort was 31.4 +/- 6.2 years. Audiometric thresholds were significantly higher in the dominant ear compared to the non-dominant ear across all tested frequencies (p < 0.001). The most pronounced variations were observed at higher frequencies: at 4000 Hz (dominant: 22 dB HL vs. non-dominant: 18 dB HL) and 8000 Hz (dominant: 28 dB HL vs.

Keywords : Mobile Phones, Pure-Tone Audiometry, High-Frequency Hearing Loss, Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields, Cochlear Basal Turn.

References :

1. Balbani APS, Montovani JC. Mobile phones: influence on auditory and vestibular systems. Braz J Otorhinolaryngol. 2008;74(1):125–131. doi: 10.1016/S1808-8694(15)30762-X. [Available from: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6841797/]
2. International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). Statement on the “guidelines for limiting exposure to time-varying electric, magnetic and electromagetic fields (up to 300 GHz)”. 2009. [PubMed] [Available from: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6841797/]
3. Sahni D, Singh P, Sharma P, Kaur A, Sahni P, Sahni H. Hearing assessment in mobile phone users. Int J Community Med Public Health. 2023 Nov 30;10(12):4849-4853. doi: 10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20233789. [Available from: https://www.ijcmph.com/index.php/ijcmph/article/view/11836]
4. Varshney S, Mishra A, Varshney H, Sharma A, Singh P, Bist SS. Effect of Electromagnetic Radiation from Mobile Phones on Auditory Brainstem Response. Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2023 May 17:1-8. doi: 10.1007/s12070-023-03724-y. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37449188; PMCID: PMC10188679. [Available from: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10188679/]
5. Bhatia MS, Sharma V, Chabra V. Neuropsychiatric effects of mobile phones. Delhi Psychiatry J. 2008;11:52-8. [Cited in: https://www.ijcmph.com/index.php/ijcmph/article/view/11836]
6. Kapoor S, Kataria A. A study on the effect of prolonged mobile phone use on pure tone audiometry thresholds of medical students of Sikkim. Natl J Physiol Pharmacol. 2017; 7(11): 1155-1159. doi: 10.5455/njppp.2017.7.0619717062017. [Available from: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5664865/]\ Hutter HP, Moshammer H, Wallner P, Kundi M. Tinnitus and mobile phone use. Occup Environ Med. 2010 Dec;67(12):804-8. doi: 10.1136/oem.2009.048116. Epub 2010 Jun 23. PMID: 20573849. [Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20573849/]
7. Zhao J, Hao D, Guo X, Liu D, Myrzakhmetova M, Wang M, Wang X. The Effects of Mobile Phone Radiofrequency Radiation on Cochlear Stria Marginal Cells in Sprague–Dawley Rats. Bioelectromagnetics. 2020 Apr;41(3):212-221. doi: 8.1002/bem.22250. Epub 2020 Feb 28. PMID: 32112461; PMCID: PMC7154754. [Available from: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7154754/]
8. Ramya CS, Karthiyanee K, Vinutha S. Effect of mobile phone usage on hearing threshold: A pilot study. Indian J Otol. 2014 Dec;20(4):159-62. doi: 10.4103/0971- 7749.146929. [Available from:  https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270017560_Effect_of_mobile_phone usage on_hearing_threshold_A_pilot_study]
9. Panda NK, Sharma R, Munjal S, et al. Audiologic disturbances in long-term mobile phone users. J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2010 Aug;39(4):5-11.