Extremely low frequency magnetic field (ELF-MF) exposure sensitizes SH-SY5Y cells to the pro-Parkinson's Disease toxin MPP.
Benassi B, Filomeni G, Montagna C, Merla C, Lopresto V, Pinto R, Marino C, Consales C. · 2016
View Original AbstractEMF exposure made brain cells 20 times more vulnerable to Parkinson's toxins, suggesting EMF weakens cellular defenses against disease.
Plain English Summary
Italian researchers exposed brain cells to 50 Hz magnetic fields, then tested their response to a Parkinson's toxin. While EMF alone didn't harm cells, it weakened their antioxidant defenses, making them far more vulnerable to the toxin's damage, suggesting EMF might increase susceptibility to Parkinson's disease.
Why This Matters
This research reveals a troubling synergistic effect that deserves serious attention in the EMF health debate. The study demonstrates that EMF exposure doesn't necessarily cause direct harm, but rather weakens cellular defenses, making neurons more vulnerable to other environmental toxins. What makes this particularly concerning is that we're all exposed to multiple environmental stressors simultaneously in real life, not just EMF in isolation. While the 1 milliTesla exposure used here is higher than typical household levels (which range from 0.01 to 0.2 milliTesla), it's well within occupational exposure limits and comparable to what you might encounter near power lines or electrical equipment. The reality is that this type of interaction effect, where EMF amplifies the toxicity of other substances, has received far too little research attention despite its obvious relevance to human health.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- 1 mG
- Electric Field
- 0.0005 V/m
- Source/Device
- 50 Hz
- Exposure Duration
- 6, 12, 24, 48 oder 72 hours and continuous for 24 hours MPP+ tests
Exposure Context
This study used 1 mG for magnetic fields:
- 50Kx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.2 mG
- 10Kx 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
The occupational/residential exposure to the electromagnetic fields has been recently associated with an increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases; it has been thus proposed that the extremely low frequency magnetic field (ELF-MF) may contribute to neurodegenerative etiopathogenesis, as its interaction with biological systems directly impairs redox homeostasis in specific areas of the brain. The molecular mechanisms elicited by ELF-MF, and their potential involvement in PD onset, still remain unclear. To this end, we set up a generator of ELF-MF able to stably and homogeneously reproduce environmental prolonged exposure to ELF-MF (50 Hz, 1 mT).
Results obtained indicate that ELF-MF exposure alters cell response of SH-SY5Y cells to MPP+. We dem...
Taken overall, our results demonstrate the redox-based molecular interaction between ELF-MF and PD neurotoxins in vitro, and open a new scenario for defining the synergy of environmental factors in PD onset.
Show BibTeX
@article{b_2016_extremely_low_frequency_magnetic_323,
author = {Benassi B and Filomeni G and Montagna C and Merla C and Lopresto V and Pinto R and Marino C and Consales C.},
title = {Extremely low frequency magnetic field (ELF-MF) exposure sensitizes SH-SY5Y cells to the pro-Parkinson's Disease toxin MPP.},
year = {2016},
doi = {10.1007/s12035-015-9354-4},
url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12035-015-9354-4},
}