Modulation of hydrogen peroxide production in cellular systems by low level magnetic fields.
Martino CF, Castello PR · 2011
View Original AbstractEven magnetic fields 200 times weaker than Earth's natural field can alter fundamental cellular chemistry in both healthy and cancer cells.
Plain English Summary
Scientists exposed cancer cells and healthy cells to weakened magnetic fields similar to reducing Earth's natural magnetism. Both cell types produced significantly less hydrogen peroxide, a molecule linked to cellular damage and cancer development, showing even extremely weak magnetic fields affect basic cellular functions.
Why This Matters
This study reveals something remarkable: magnetic fields as weak as 0.2 to 2 microtesla can measurably alter cellular chemistry. To put this in perspective, these field strengths are roughly 20 to 200 times weaker than Earth's natural magnetic field and thousands of times weaker than typical household appliances. The research demonstrates that cells are exquisitely sensitive to magnetic field variations, responding to changes so subtle they're barely detectable by instruments. What makes this particularly significant is that the study examined hydrogen peroxide production, a fundamental cellular process linked to both normal cell function and disease development. The fact that such weak fields can modulate this basic biochemical pathway suggests our cells may be far more responsive to electromagnetic environments than previously understood, even at exposure levels we might consider negligible.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- 0.0002 -0.002 mG
Exposure Context
This study used 0.0002 -0.002 mG for magnetic fields:
- 10x above the Building Biology guideline of 0.2 mG
- 2x 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
In this manuscript, we present data on the influence of the suppression of the Earth's magnetic field (low level magnetic fields or LLF) which magnitudes range from 0.2 µT to 2 µT on the modulation of hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) in human fibrosarcoma cancer cell line HT1080, pancreatic AsPC-1 cancer cell line, and bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells (PAEC) exposed to geomagnetic field (control; 45 µT-60 µT).
Reduction of the Earth's magnetic field suppressed H(2)O(2) production in cancer cells and PAEC. The...
Show BibTeX
@article{cf_2011_modulation_of_hydrogen_peroxide_423,
author = {Martino CF and Castello PR},
title = {Modulation of hydrogen peroxide production in cellular systems by low level magnetic fields.},
year = {2011},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21887222/},
}