Exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields induces fos-related antigen-immunoreactivity via activation of dopaminergic D1 receptor.
Shin EJ, Nguyen XK, Nguyen TT, Pham DT, Kim HC. · 2011
View Original AbstractTwo weeks of magnetic field exposure caused brain chemistry changes lasting over a year in mice.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed mice to magnetic fields from power lines for one hour daily over two weeks. The exposure caused hyperactivity and altered brain chemistry in areas controlling movement and reward, with changes lasting up to a year, suggesting these fields can permanently affect brain function.
Why This Matters
This research provides compelling evidence that ELF magnetic fields can trigger lasting neurochemical changes in the brain. The exposure levels used (0.3 to 2.4 milliTesla) are actually quite high compared to typical household exposures, which usually range from 0.01 to 0.2 milliTesla. However, the fact that effects persisted for a full year after just two weeks of exposure is particularly concerning. The study demonstrates that these fields don't just pass through biological tissue harmlessly, but can fundamentally alter brain chemistry through dopamine pathways that govern movement, motivation, and reward processing. What makes this research especially significant is that it identifies a specific biological mechanism, the dopaminergic D1 receptor pathway, through which ELF fields exert their effects. This moves us beyond simply observing that EMF exposure causes biological changes to understanding how those changes occur at the molecular level.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- 0.3 or 2.4 mG
- Source/Device
- 60 Hz
- Exposure Duration
- 1 h/day, for consecutive fourteen days
Exposure Context
This study used 0.3 or 2.4 mG for magnetic fields:
- 15Kx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.2 mG
- 3Kx 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
we examined whether repeated ELF-MF exposure induces FRA-immunoreactivity (FRA-IR) in the striatum and nucleus accumbens (striatal complex) of the mice.
Repeated exposure to ELF-MF (0.3 or 2.4 mT, 1 h/day, for consecutive fourteen days) significantly in...
Pretreatment with SCH23390, a dopaminergic D1 receptor antagonist, but not with sulpiride, a dopamin...
Our results suggest that repeated exposure to ELF-MF leads to prolonged locomotor stimulation and long-term expression of FRA in the striatal complex of the mice via stimulation of dopaminergic D1 receptor.
Show BibTeX
@article{ej_2011_exposure_to_extremely_low_301,
author = {Shin EJ and Nguyen XK and Nguyen TT and Pham DT and Kim HC.},
title = {Exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields induces fos-related antigen-immunoreactivity via activation of dopaminergic D1 receptor.},
year = {2011},
url = {https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3214769/},
}