Effect of extremely low frequency electromagnetic field on brain histopathology of Caspian Sea Cyprinus carpio.
Samiee F, Samiee K. · 2017
View Original AbstractELF electromagnetic fields caused severe brain damage in fish at 3+ milliTesla, showing clear dose-response effects.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed Caspian Sea carp to extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (the same 50 Hz frequency used in power lines and household electricity) for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Fish exposed to magnetic field strengths of 3 milliTesla or higher showed severe brain damage, including tissue death. The damage worsened with both stronger fields and longer exposure times.
Why This Matters
This study demonstrates that ELF-EMF exposure can cause measurable brain damage in living organisms, adding to the growing body of evidence that these fields have biological effects. While the magnetic field strengths used (3-7 milliTesla) are higher than typical household exposures, they're within range of what you might encounter very close to high-power electrical equipment or certain occupational settings. The fact that brain tissue death occurred with relatively short exposures is particularly concerning. What makes this research valuable is its clear dose-response relationship - stronger fields and longer exposures caused more severe damage, which is exactly what you'd expect if EMF is truly causing the observed effects rather than random variation.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- 0.1, 1, 3, 5, and 7 mG
- Source/Device
- 50 Hz
- Exposure Duration
- 0.5 and 1 h
Exposure Context
This study used 0.1, 1, 3, 5, and 7 mG for magnetic fields:
- 5Kx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.2 mG
- 1Kx 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
This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of extremely low frequency electromagnetic field (ELF-EMF) (50 Hz) exposure on brain histopathology of Cyprinus carpio, one of the important species of Caspian Sea with significant economic value.
A total of 200 healthy fish were used in this study. They were classified randomly in two groups: sh...
Histologic results indicate that exposure of C. carpio to artificial ELF-EMF caused severe histopath...
Further studies are needed to elucidate exact mechanism of EMF exposure on the brain.
Show BibTeX
@article{f_2017_effect_of_extremely_low_705,
author = {Samiee F and Samiee K.},
title = {Effect of extremely low frequency electromagnetic field on brain histopathology of Caspian Sea Cyprinus carpio.},
year = {2017},
doi = {10.3109/15368378.2016.1144064},
url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/15368378.2016.1144064},
}