An evaluation of genotoxicity in human neuronal-type cells subjected to oxidative stress under an extremely low frequency pulsed magnetic field.
Giorgi G, Lecciso M, Capri M, Lukas Yani S, Virelli A, Bersani F, Del Re B. · 2014
View Original AbstractPower-frequency magnetic fields at 1 mT did not worsen DNA damage in stressed brain cells, though this exceeds typical home exposures.
Plain English Summary
Italian researchers exposed human brain cells to power line frequency magnetic fields (50 Hz) while simultaneously stressing them with hydrogen peroxide. Over 72 hours, the magnetic field exposure did not increase DNA damage beyond what the chemical stress alone caused, suggesting power-frequency fields may not worsen cellular damage.
Why This Matters
This study provides important context for understanding how extremely low frequency magnetic fields interact with cellular stress mechanisms. The 1 mT exposure level used here is significantly higher than typical household exposures (which range from 0.01-0.2 mT near appliances), making this more of a high-dose laboratory investigation than a real-world exposure scenario. While the researchers found no additional DNA damage from the magnetic field exposure, this represents just one study using a specific cell line under artificial laboratory conditions. The reality is that we need more research examining how EMF exposure affects cellular repair mechanisms under various types of biological stress, as our bodies are constantly managing oxidative damage from normal metabolism and environmental factors.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- 1 mG
- Source/Device
- 50 Hz
- Exposure Duration
- 1, 24, 48, 72 h
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 aim of this study is to investigate whether PMF exposure can interfere with DNA damage and repair in the presence of a genotoxic oxidative agent in neuronal type cells.
To this purpose gamma-H2AX foci formation, which is a sensitive marker of DNA double strand breaks (...
Taken together, results suggest that PMF exposure does not interfere with genotoxicity and cytotoxic...
Show BibTeX
@article{g_2014_an_evaluation_of_genotoxicity_253,
author = {Giorgi G and Lecciso M and Capri M and Lukas Yani S and Virelli A and Bersani F and Del Re B.},
title = {An evaluation of genotoxicity in human neuronal-type cells subjected to oxidative stress under an extremely low frequency pulsed magnetic field.},
year = {2014},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1383571814002721},
}