Chronic electromagnetic field exposure decreases HSP70 levels and lowers cytoprotection.
Di Carlo A, White N, Guo F, Garrett P, Litovitz T. · 2002
View Original AbstractChronic EMF exposure reduced cellular protection by 27%, potentially explaining how daily device use could increase disease vulnerability.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed chick embryos to electromagnetic fields (both extremely low frequency and radio frequency) for 4 days and found that chronic exposure reduced levels of HSP70, a protective protein that helps cells survive stress. The EMF exposure made the embryos 27% less able to protect themselves against cellular damage. This suggests that daily EMF exposure, like what mobile phone users experience, could weaken the body's natural defense systems and potentially increase disease risk.
Why This Matters
This study reveals a concerning mechanism by which chronic EMF exposure may compromise our cellular defenses. HSP70 proteins act like molecular bodyguards, protecting cells during stress and helping prevent cancer and other diseases. The 27% reduction in these protective proteins after just 4 days of exposure at 8 microT is particularly troubling when you consider that many household appliances and power lines produce similar or higher magnetic field levels. The researchers specifically noted that the exposure patterns mimicked what mobile phone users experience daily. What makes this research especially significant is that it demonstrates how the body's response to EMF changes over time. While short-term exposure might trigger protective responses, chronic exposure appears to exhaust these defenses, leaving cells more vulnerable to damage. This finding adds important context to the growing body of research linking long-term EMF exposure to increased disease risk.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- 0.008 mG
- Exposure Duration
- Continuously for 4 days, or repeated daily (20, 30, or 60 min once or twice daily for 4 days)
Exposure Context
This study used 0.008 mG for magnetic fields:
- 400x above the Building Biology guideline of 0.2 mG
- 80x above the BioInitiative Report recommendation of 1 mG
Building Biology guidelines are practitioner-based limits from real-world assessments. BioInitiative Report recommendations are based on peer-reviewed science. Check Your Exposure to compare your own measurements.
Where This Falls on the Concern Scale
Study Details
Experiments presented in the current report are based on a study in which long-term (4 days), continuous exposure to ELF-EMFs decreased protection against ultraviolet radiation. Based on this result, it was hypothesized that de-protection against hypoxia should also occur following long-term, continuous, or daily, repeated exposures to EMFs.
To test this hypothesis, chick embryos were exposed to ELF-EMFs (8 microT) continuously for 4 days, ...
Several of the exposure protocols yielded embryos that had statistically significant decreases in pr...
Show BibTeX
@article{a_2002_chronic_electromagnetic_field_exposure_946,
author = {Di Carlo A and White N and Guo F and Garrett P and Litovitz T.},
title = {Chronic electromagnetic field exposure decreases HSP70 levels and lowers cytoprotection.},
year = {2002},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11813250/},
}